Electrochemical Sensors for Air Quality Monitoring

Abstract

The continuous growth of modern industries has left the world with poor air quality especially in urban areas and work place environments, posing a major challenge to quality of life. The major contributors to traditional air pollution are NOx, SOx, and H2S while NH3 and Volatile organic compounds are of increasing concern recently. Traditional air quality monitors based on mass spec, infra-red spectroscopy and gas chromatography are expensive and not suitable for large scale deployment. Electrochemical gas sensors provide a cheap alternative option for widespread air quality monitoring. While many electrochemical sensors detect toxic gases in the range of 1 – 10,000 ppm, recent advances in chemiresistive and mixed potential electrochemical sensors have brought down the detection range to parts per billion, required range for environmental monitoring. In this Interface article, we discuss recent advancements in sensors for the efficient detection of key air pollutant gases.