Facile E-nose based on single antenna and graphene oxide for sensing volatile organic compound gases with ultrahigh selectivity and accuracy

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) gases exist as important indicators in various processes such as human breath, food spoilage, plant disease, and industrial production, which makes VOC sensing a promising nondestructive detection method. Nanomaterial enabled electronic noses (e-noses) are gaining increasing attention for their exceptional ability to distinguish between multiple VOCs. To achieve this, multiple sensors with distinct nanomaterials are crucial for providing enough diversity for successful discrimination. Apparently if e-nose can be implemented solely on single sensor with single common nanomaterial operating at room temperature, the complexity and power consumption can be greatly decreased. In this study, a significant milestone is achieved as, for the first time, a single antenna sensor coated with commercial graphene oxide, demonstrates comparable performance to array-based e-noses, and even outperforms them in terms of the ultimate ambition of selectivity—isomeric VOC classification. An impressive classification accuracy of 96.7 % is attained for multiple VOC gases, including isomers. Additionally, the concentration of each component in VOC isomer mixtures is accurately determined. Unlike conventional antenna sensors, the sensor maintains stable communication during sensing operations. Finally, the practical feasibility of the antenna e-nose (Ant-nose) is successfully demonstrated with a series of food quality assessments.