Portable and Hand-Held Ammonia Gas Sensor Enables Noninvasive Prediagnosis of Helicobacter pylori Infection

Disease diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) through human exhaled breath analysis has attracted considerable attention. However, conventional methods, such as carbon 13 (¹³C) breath test and infrared spectrometers, are facing the challenge of achieving portability and reliability synchronously. Herein, we report a portable and hand-held Hp analyzer using a bimetallic PtRu@SnO₂-based gas sensor for the prediagnosis of Hp infection, which is based on detecting ammonia (NH₃) as a potential biomarker in exhaled breath. Owing to the surface functionalization through highly catalytically active bimetallic PtRu nanoparticles (NPs) prepared by a photochemical reduction strategy, the PtRu@SnO₂-based sensor exhibits high sensitivity and selectivity toward trace-level (200 ppb) NH₃ even at high-humidity surroundings (80% RH). Consequently, the designed portable and hand-held Hp analyzer makes the accurate determination of NH₃ at 800 ppb in exhaled breath. The tuning of energy band structure and electrical characteristics and the catalytic modulation of NH₃ oxidation by PtRu NPs are proposed to be the reasons behind the enhanced NH₃ gas-sensing performance, as confirmed by in situ analysis using an online MKS MultiGas 2030 FTIR gas analyzer. This work paves the way for the prediagnosis of Hp infection using a metal oxide gas sensor.