Abstract
The correlation between breath volatilome and health is prompting a growing interest in the development of sensors optimized for breath analysis. On the other hand, the outbreak of COVID-19 evidenced that breath is a vehicle of infection; thus, the introduction of low-cost and disposable devices is becoming urgent for a clinical implementation of breath analysis. In this paper, a proof of concept about the functionalization of face masks is provided. Porphyrin-based sensors are among the most performant devices for breath analysis, but since porphyrins are scarcely conductive, they make use of costly and bulky mass or optical transducers. To overcome this drawback, we introduce here a hybrid material made of conducting polymer and porphyrins. The resulting material can be easily deposited on the internal surface of standard FFP face masks producing resistive sensors that retain the chemical sensitivity of porphyrins implementing their combinatorial selectivity for the identification of volatile compounds and the classification of complex samples. The sensitivity of sensors has been tested with respect to a set of seven volatile compounds representative of diverse chemical families. Sensors react to all compounds but with a different sensitivity pattern. Functionalized face masks have been tested in a proof-of-concept test aimed at identifying changes of breath due to the ingestion of beverages (coffee and wine) and solid food (banana- and mint-flavored candies). Results indicate that sensors can detect volatile compounds against the background of normal breath VOCs, suggesting the possibility to embed sensors in face masks for extensive breath analysis
Highlights
The composition of human metabolome depends on natural life events such as the menstrual cycle [1] and circadian rhythms [2] and by pathophysiological events [3].The fraction of metabolome made of volatile or semi-volatile compounds, the volatilome, has been the subject of extensive studies [4]
A different behavior is observed for the Mn complexes, where a blue shift is present, with a variation of the relative intensity of the metal-to-ligand charge transfer band. Both of these features indicate a variation of the coordinative behavior of the Mn ion upon interaction with the polymer matrix. These porphyrin–polymer interactions may result in the capability of porphyrins to interfere or modulate the conductivity properties of PEDOT:PSS once spotted on solid films
The response of sensors shows that the hybrid materials behave as a chemoresistance, and the sensitivity is largely determined by the properties of porphyrins
Summary
The composition of human metabolome depends on natural life events such as the menstrual cycle [1] and circadian rhythms [2] and by pathophysiological events [3]. The fraction of metabolome made of volatile or semi-volatile compounds, the volatilome, has been the subject of extensive studies [4]. About 34% of the human volatilome is found in breath [6]; thanks to the high accessibility of the sample, breath analysis has been widely investigated in order to correlate its composition with different life processes including those characteristics of pathologies and conditions [7]. The volatile compounds in breath originate in various organs and tissues; they are collected by blood and transferred to breath at the blood/air interface in the lungs [8].
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