Trace Acetone Research Articles

Wearable SERS sensor based on Bionic Sea urchin-Cavity structure for dual in-situ detection of metabolites and VOCs gas

Diagnosis of diseases by monitoring the metabolite concentration on the skin surface and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled gas is an active area of research with great potential for development and application. Therefore, the development of a sensor that can monitor in real time slight changes in metabolite concentrations on the surface of the skin in the resting state and accurately detect VOCs gases in exhaled gas is of significant practical value. To address these challenges, we designed and fabricated the wearable Bionic Sea urchin-Cavity (BSC) SERS sensor with high sensitivity and adaptability. Our testing revealed that the SERS sensor exhibited strong responsiveness to human metabolites. The subtle concentration changes in urea on the resting state skin surface also successfully detected. Furthermore, the SERS sensor successfully detected trace acetone gas volatilized from the 30 mmol/L aqueous acetone solution similar to the acetone concentration in diabetic blood. We anticipate that this SERS sensor could serve as a multi-functional wearable device for medical applications and provide a new platform for the field.

Construction of mesoporous silica-implanted tungsten oxides for selective acetone gas sensing

As a key biomarker for noninvasive diagnosis of diabetes, the selective detection of trace acetone in exhaled gas using a portable and low-cost device remains a great challenge. Semiconductor metal oxide (SMO) based gas sensors have drawn signification attention due to their potential in miniaturization, user-friendliness, high cost-effectiveness and selective real-time detection for noninvasive clinical diagnosis. Herein, we propose a one-pot solvent evaporation induced tricomponent co-assembly strategy to design a novel ordered mesoporous SMO of silica-implanted WO3 (SiO2/WO3) as sensing materials for trace acetone detection. The controlled co-assembly of silicon and tungsten precursors and amphiphilic diblock copolymer poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polystyrene (PEO-b-PS), and the subsequent thermal treatment enable the local lattice disorder of WO3 induced by the amorphous silica and the formation of ordered mesoporous SiO2/WO3 hybrid walls with a unique metastable ε-phase WO3 framework. The obtained mesoporous SiO2/WO3 composites possess highly crystalline framework with large uniform pore size (12.0–13.3 nm), high surface area (99–113 m2/g) and pore volume (0.17–0.23 cm3/g). Typically, the as-fabricated gas sensor based on mesoporous 2.5%SiO2/WO3 exhibits rapid response/recovery rate (5/17 s), superior sensitivity (Rair/Rgas = 105 for 50 ppm acetone), as well as high selectivity towards acetone. The limit of detection is as low as 0.25 ppm, which is considerably lower than the thresh value of acetone concentration (>1.1 ppm) in the exhaled breath of diabetic patients, demonstrating its great prospect in real-time monitoring in diabetes diagnosis. Moreover, the mesoporous 2.5%SiO2/WO3 sensor is integrated into a wireless sensing module connected to a smart phone, providing a convenient real-time detection of acetone.

ZIF-90-Modified Terahertz Metasurface Sensor for Detecting Trace Acetone Gas With High Sensitivity and Specificity

ZIF-90-Modified Terahertz Metasurface Sensor for Detecting Trace Acetone Gas With High Sensitivity and Specificity

UiO-66-NH2-PEI combined with a hand-held catalytic combustion sensor for trace acetone detection in exhaled breath

The trace acetone determination in breath can be regarded as a noninvasive method for diagnostic of diabetes. There is an urgent demand to develop a simple method for acetone detection which can be easily performed at home. Here, UiO-66-NH2@PEI with the appropriate aperture size combined with the hand-held sensor was used to construct the adsorption–desorption sensing platform for separation and enrichment of acetone in exhaled breath (EB). UiO-66-NH2@PEI can realize the selective adsorption, desorption and separation for acetone in EB. The flameless combustion hand-held sensor can sensitively respond to acetone in the range of 0.2–12.0 ppm and it can achieve the accurate determination of acetone content in EB of diabetic patients. The hand-held sensor is inexpensive, lightweight and easy to operate, which has great application prospects for the widespread use for diabetic patients in family life.

Improved SnO2 nanowire acetone sensor with uniform Co3O4 nanoparticle decoration

In this study, the synthesis of Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) decorated onto SnO2 nanowires (NWs) was achieved through a meticulous vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) process coupled with a hydrothermal approach. The paramount objective was to amplify the gas sensing efficacy and refine the detection threshold of the acetone gas sensor. This endeavor encompassed a twofold enhancement strategy: the optimization of Co3O4 NP dimensions and their uniform dispersion across the SnO2 NW surface. This orchestrated approach yielded a remarkable 17-fold augmentation in the sensor's responsiveness towards 50 ppm acetone gas, as compared to sensors employing solely synthesized pure SnO2 NWs. Moreover, discernible sensor responses were adeptly elicited even at a minute concentration of 0.1 ppm acetone gas. A discernible advancement was discerned in contrast to antecedent research, reflecting substantial refinement in both response characteristics and the sensor's capacity to detect trace acetone gas levels. This heightened sensing proficiency can be attributed to the aptly tailored dimensions of Co3O4 NPs, harmoniously dispersed onto the SnO2 NW surface. This precise distribution engenders a pivotal p-n heterojunction, thereby eliciting the observed enhancement in sensing performance.

Development of highly sensitive and selective trace acetone sensor using perovskite yttrium ferrite: Mechanism, kinetics and phase dependence study

Detection and monitoring of exhale breath acetone, bio-marker of diabetes is the need of the day to save millions human life. Trace acetone sensor having capability to detect breath acetone has been developed using perovskite YFeO3 powder (YFO) synthesized through a facile solution combustion technique. It is observed that YFO started to form hexagonal phase at 700 °C (YF-7) and ultimately converted to orthorhombic phase at 1000 °C (YF-10). Amongst others, YF-10 delivered best trace acetone sensing performance including a eight-fold response (S= Rg/Ra∼10.25 folds) to 1ppm acetone with ultrafast response-recovery time (∼0.6s-2s). Further, YF-10 sensor shows excellent selectivity, long-term stability more than 180 days, almost insensitive towards moisture and lower detection limit as low as 100 ppb. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals that along with Fe3+ there exist Fe2+ ions which become maximum at 1000 °C. Formation of Fe2+ gives rise to oxygen vacancies which is maximum for YF-10 which is confirmed by PL and EPR studies. Enhanced acetone sensing performance of orthorhombic YFO is explained using quantitative phase analysis, honey-comb morphology, regulation of oxygen vacancies and bivalency of iron in different phases of yttrium ferrite. Eley−Rideal model has been invoked to explain the affinity towards acetone in comparison with other interfering gases. DFT calculation demonstrate that adsorption energy, a major parameter for gas sensing performance of any materials is lower for orthorhombic phase. In totality, it is observed that YFeO3 powder based sensor have huge potential for exhale breath analysis to monitor diabetes.

Black phosphorus nanosheets-sensitized Zn-doped α-Fe2O3 nanoclusters for trace acetone detection

Acetone vapor not only poses a significant threat to the ecological environment and human health but serves as a specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) biomarker within the exhaled breath to distinguish individual diabetes, thereby urgently necessitating a sensitive and selective acetone detection. To this end, conductometric gas sensors featuring black phosphorus nanosheets (BP)-decorated Zn-doped hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanoclusters as the sensitive material were prepared. By subtly modulating the componential ratio and operation temperature, the optimal Zn-doped α-Fe2O3/BP sensor delivered a prominent response of 5.32 and short response/recovery times of 8/68 s toward 0.5 ppm acetone at 160 °C as well as a large sensitivity of 5.3/ppm over the concentration range of 0.1–1.5 ppm. Moreover, favorable selectivity, repeatability, and long-term stability were demonstrated. The superior sensing performance after incorporating a tiny but moderate amount of BP over Zn-doped α-Fe2O3 sensors could be attributed to the consequent enlarged specific surface area, increased oxygen vacancies, and numerous p-n heterojunctions. Furthermore, additional polylactic acid (PLA) encapsulation membrane endowed the as-prepared sensors with a remarkably improved humidity tolerance, showcasing a huge application potential in non-invasive diabetes diagnosis from exhaled breath featuring high-humidity conditions in the future.

Room‐Temperature High‐Performance Trace Level Acetone Sensor Based on Polypyrrole Nanotubes

AbstractRecently, precise detection of VOCs in particular acetone, ammonia alcohol has attracted huge attention for industrial safety, monitoring of environment and human health. In this article we have reported for a polypyrrole nanotube (PPNT)‐based chemiresistive sensor for the selective detection of trace acetone vapour at room temperature (25 °C). Polypyrrole (PPy) nanoparticles with different morphologies, viz. nanotubes, nanowire, and globular were synthesized using methyl orange (MO), cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), and pure polypyrrole as the growth template. The as synthesized powders were exploited to fabricate Taguchi‐type thick‐film sensors. The synthesized powders and fabricated sensors were characterized by multiple sophisticated techniques, such as, XRD, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, EDS, UV‐VIS spectroscopy, optical non‐contact profilometry, and current‐Voltage (I‐V) measurement. It is observed that the PPNT sensor shows the highest response to trace acetone vapour with a lower detection limit of 500 ppb at room temperature (25 °C) and quick response (∼5.4 sec) and recovery (∼73.94 sec) times. Achieved enhanced sensing behaviour can be attributed to formation of hydrogen bond between acetone and PPy. Combined with room temperature sensing, good stability, repeatability, produce sensor may find application in various sensing fields.

Quantitative Analysis of Acetone in Transformer Oil Based on ZnO NPs@Ag NWs SERS Substrates Combined with a Stoichiometric Model.

Acetone is an essential indicator for determining the aging of transformer insulation. Rapid, sensitive, and accurate quantification of acetone in transformer oil is highly significant in assessing the aging of oil-paper insulation systems. In this study, silver nanowires modified with small zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs@Ag NWs) were excellent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates and efficiently and sensitively detected acetone in transformer oil. Stoichiometric models such as multiple linear regression (MLR) models and partial least square regressions (PLS) were investigated to quantify acetone in transformer oil and compared with commonly used univariate linear regressions (ULR). PLS combined with a preprocessing algorithm provided the best prediction model, with a correlation coefficient of 0.998251 for the calibration set, 0.997678 for the predictive set, a root mean square error in the calibration set (RMSECV = 0.12596 mg/g), and a prediction set (RMSEP = 0.11408 mg/g). For an acetone solution of 0.003 mg/g, the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was the lowest among the three quantitative models. For a concentration of 7.29 mg/g, the MAPE was 1.60%. This method achieved limits of quantification and detections of 0.003 mg/g and 1 μg/g, respectively. In general, these results suggested that ZnO NPs@Ag NWs as SERS substrates coupled with PLS simply and accurately quantified trace acetone concentrations in transformer oil.

Biotemplate-derived mesoporous Cr2O3 tube bundles for highly sensitive and selective detection of trace acetone at low temperature

The development of Cr2O3-based acetone sensor is challenging due to no report on its high sensing ability. To this end, we simply dipped poplar branches into chromic chloride solution to obtain immersed precursors, which were then calcined in air to controllably synthesize two biomorphic Cr2O3 tube bundles. Amongst, the hierarchical tube structure (Cr2O3-500) calcined at 500 °C is replicated from small-size nanoparticles, so that it has uniform mesopore distribution and large specific surface area. Such microstructural features not only favor the rapid accessibility of gas molecules to sensing layer, but also provide an effective platform of more active sites for facilitating surface adsorption and chemical reaction. Especially, under the synergism of few non-stoichiometric CrO3-x species, Cr2O3-based sensor achieves highly sensitive and selective detection to trace acetone gas for the first time. At 133 °C, Cr2O3-500 exhibits high response value (S = 110.1) to 100 ppm acetone gas and low actual detection limit (10 ppb, S = 1.3). Simultaneously, it also has rapid response-recovery characteristics, good stability and moisture resistance. In addition, the sensing mechanism is discussed in details.

Superior acetone sensor based on hetero-interface of SnSe2/SnO2 quasi core shell nanoparticles for previewing diabetes

To improve gas sensing performance of SnO2 sensor, a heterostructure constructed by SnO2 and SnSe2 is designed and synthesized via hydrothermal method and post thermal oxidation treatment. The obtained SnSe2/SnO2 composite nanoparticles demonstrate a special core–shell structure with SnO2 nanograins distributed in the shell and mixed SnSe2 and SnO2 nanograins in the core. Owning to the promoted charge transfer effect invited by SnSe2, the sensor based on SnSe2/SnO2 composite nanoparticles exhibit expressively enhanced acetone sensing performance compared to the pristine SnO2 sensor. At the working temperature of 300 °C, the SnSe2/SnO2 composite sensor with optimized composition exhibits superior sensing property towards acetone, including high response (10.77–100 ppm), low theoretical limit of detection (0.354 ppm), high selectivity and good reproducibility. Moreover, the sensor shows a satisfactory sensing performance in trace acetone gas detection under high humidity condition (relative humidity: 70–90%), making it a promising candidate to constructing exhaled breath sensors for acetone detection.

A metal-organic framework loaded paper-based chemiluminescence sensor for trace acetone detection in exhaled breath.

Trace acetone determination in breath can be regarded as a noninvasive method for diagnosis of diabetes. Here, a paper-based CL gas sensor combined with UiO-66 as the preconcentrator was established for sensitive detection of trace acetone in exhaled breath. UiO-66 with excellent adsorption performance and unique water stability was used for the adsorption and enrichment of acetone gas under high humidity conditions in exhaled breath. As acetone can remarkably increase the chemiluminescence (CL) of the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH)-potassium permanganate (KMnO4) system, a sensitive CL device based on a paper substrate for trace acetone detection was established and the detection limit was 0.03 ppm. The fabricated method was used to assess the content of trace acetone in exhaled breath with satisfactory recoveries of 90-110%. It is expected to realize the noninvasive determination of acetone for diabetic patients in exhaled breath.

Pt-decorated foam-like Ga-In bimetal oxide nanofibers for trace acetone detection in exhaled breath

The concentration of acetone in exhaled breath is an efficient indicator for the diagnosis of diabetes. However, it is difficult to detect acetone in exhaled breath due to the extremely low acetone concentration, rather complex composition and very high humidity. Herein, we report Pt-decorated foam-like Ga-In bimetal oxide nanofibers (Pt-GIO) for trace concentration acetone detection. We found that the Pt-GIO based sensor exhibits enhanced sensing response towards acetone compared with that of Ga-In bimetal oxide (GIO), due to the formation of Schottky contact between Pt and n-type GIO, leading to the increased chemisorbed oxygen. As a result, the Pt-GIO based sensors gives a high response (3.2), short response time (13 s) to 1.8 ppm acetone and very low detection limit (300 ppb). The Pt-GIO sensor also gives good stability and is nearly insensitive to moisture in the range of 40% RH to 95%. These advantages including high response, low detection limit, short response time and high moisture resistance endow Pt-GIO a promising sensing material for acetone detection in exhaled breath.

A highly sensitive cobalt chromite thick film based trace acetone sensor with fast response and recovery times for the detection of diabetes from exhaled breath

Acetone is known as the breath biomarker of diabetes. In this paper we have reported on a highly sensitive, stable cobalt chromite (CoCr2O4) thick film-based trace acetone sensor with quick response and recovery times promising for the detection of diabetes from exhaled breath. CoCr2O4 nanoparticles were prepared by a cost-effective and easy sol-gel method. The as prepared nanoparticles were well characterized by sophisticated characterization techniques, such as, XRD, FESEM. TEM, HRTEM, XPS, and BET. Further these nanoparticles were exploited to fabricate a Taguchi type chemoresistive sensor using a customized drop coater. The developed sensor was characterized by I–V measurement. The developed sensor exhibited high p-type response towards 1 ppm of acetone vapor (~3.81 folds), and appreciable resolution between 1 ppm, 2 ppm (response = ~4.82 folds), and 5 ppm (response = ~6.64 folds) acetone vapor at 300 °C. Further, the sensor exhibited fast response and recovery times of ~1.65 s and ~62 s, respectively. Also, the response of the sensor to 1 ppm acetone vapor is appreciably higher than that of 0.2 ppm ethanol, 0.25 ppm ammonia vapor, and saturated moisture. Finally, the sensor is stable for at least 6 months and exhibits repeatable measurements.

3D radial Co3O4 nanorod cluster derived from cobalt-based layered hydroxide metal salt for enhanced trace acetone detection

One-dimensional cobalt oxide (Co3O4) exhibits great potential in gas sensing, but the application is severely hindered because of the agglomeration or close packing during the normal synthesis process. Herein, 3D radial Co3O4 assembled with nanorods is fabricated by employing cobalt-based layered hydroxide metal salt (Co-LHMS) as a self-template. Meanwhile, Co3O4 with flake floral and dumbbell radial structure obtained by tuning the hydrothermal reaction time of precursors is used as a control group for gas sensing tests. The sensitivity of 3D radial Co3O4 to sub-ppm acetone is 4 times higher than other structures and the detection limit is 100 ppb at a relatively low working temperature of 200 ℃, which is excellent among intrinsic acetone sensors based on pure Co3O4. The satisfactory gas sensing performance can be ascribed to the large specific surface, numerous transmission pathways, and low grain boundary resistance of the material. Furthermore, this work provides an idea for the further improvement of one-dimensional gas sensors.

Detection of low concentration acetone utilizing semiconductor gas sensor

Acetone gas sensor plays a key role in air monitoring and non-invasive diagnosis of diabetes. In the present study, two different types of SnO2 semiconductor gas sensors have been fabricated to detect trace acetone. These gas sensors include mesoporous SnO2 sensor synthesized via nanocasting approach using the hard template of mesoporous SBA-15 and bulk SnO2 nanoparticles sensor synthesized by chemical precipitation method. The acetone sensing properties of the SnO2 sensors were evaluated, and the sensing mechanism of the mesoporous SnO2 sensor was proposed. The mesoporous SnO2 sensors achieve higher sensing response to acetone than the bulk SnO2 nanoparticles sensor. Moreover, the mesoporous SnO2 sensor could detect as low as 0.5 ppm acetone and exhibit high selectivity to acetone. Results demonstrate that high surface area and ordered mesoporous SnO2 sensor can considerably enhance the sensing properties to acetone. Therefore, the ordered mesoporous SnO2 sensor provides a robust candidate for trace acetone detection.

Metal-organic frameworks-derived zinc oxide nanopolyhedra/S, N: graphene quantum dots/polyaniline ternary nanohybrid for high-performance acetone sensing

Metal-organic frameworks-derived zinc oxide nanopolyhedra/S, N: graphene quantum dots/polyaniline (ZnO/S, N: GQDs/PANI) ternary nanohybrid was synthesized by in-situ polymerization route. The ZnO/S, N: GQDs/PANI nanocomposite was fabricated on a flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate with interdigital electrodes. The acetone-sensing properties of the ZnO/S, N: GQDs/PANI nanocomposite sensor were investigated by exposing it to various concentrations of acetone at room temperature. The ZnO/S, N: GQDs/PANI sensor demonstrated high response, fast response/recovery time, stable repeatability, excellent selectivity, outstanding long-term stability, and ppb-level sensitivity for trace acetone detection at room temperature. These results render the ZnO/S, N: GQDs/PANI film sensor a promising candidate for acetone sensing at room temperature. The underlying sensing mechanism of the ZnO/S, N: GQDs/PANI sensor toward acetone gas ascribed to the synergistic effect and heterojunction created in the ZnO/S, N: GQDs/PANI nanocomposite.

Graphene quantum dot-functionalized three-dimensional ordered mesoporous ZnO for acetone detection toward diagnosis of diabetes.

The development of a high-performance semiconductor oxide sensor for the accurate detection of trace disease biomarkers in exhaled breath is still a challenge that urgently needs to be addressed. Here, we proposed a self-assembly strategy and spin-coating process to create a graphene quantum dot (GQD)-functionalized three-dimensional ordered macroporous (3DOM) ZnO structure. The strong synergistic effect and the p-n heterojunction between the p-type GQDs and n-type ZnO effectively enlarged the resistance variation due to the change in oxygen adsorption. The specific 3DOM structure induced a hierarchical pore size (286 nm in macroscale and 26 nm in mesoscale) and 3D interconnection, which guaranteed high gas accessibility and fast carrier transportation. As a result, the GQD-modified 3DOM ZnO sensor exhibited a remarkably high response (Rair/Rgas = 15.2 for 1 ppm acetone), rapid response/recovery time (9/16 s), extremely low theoretical detection limit (8.7 ppb), and good selectivity towards acetone against other interfering gases. In particular, the proposed sensor could accurately distinguish trace acetone in the simulated breath of diabetic patients. These results demonstrate a high potential for the feasibility of the GQD-modified 3DOM SMO structure as a new sensing material for the possibility of noninvasive real-time diagnosis of diabetes.

Bimetallic Pt–Au nanocatalysts decorated In2O3 nests composed of ultrathin nanosheets for Type 1 diabetes diagnosis

Noninvasive diagnosis of diabetes, using a biomarker, is an urgent clinical requirement to find and remedy diabetes early. Recently, acetone, a kind of ideal probing molecule, was used to diagnose diabetes which concentration increased greatly in exhaled breath of a Type 1 diabetic patients. However, the selective detection of acetone is difficult at ppb level, especially at a high humidity. In this study, Pt0.3Au0.7–In2O3, decorated with bimetallic catalyst, showed enhanced sensing performance towards trace acetone gas at a low operating temperature of 160 °C. In addition, even at high humidity atmosphere (up to 95% RH), its response to 1.8 ppm acetone (Type 1 diabetes patients) is about 44% higher than that of 0.9 ppm (normal human), which can be clearly distinguished for the diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes in a non-invasive and more accurate way. The excellent sensing performance indicates that bimetallic Pt–Au decoration is an effect way to improve the acetone sensing ability of In2O3.

Rapid acetone detection using indium loaded WO3/SnO2 nanohybrid sensor

Growth of multifunctional nanohybrids with ordered porous structures is a much sought aspect for real time applications of mesoporous materials in detecting trace biomarkers in exhaled breathe. Here, we demonstrate the utilization of mesoporous silica (KIT-6) exhibiting 3-D porous structure as hard template for the development of Indium loaded WO3-SnO2 ordered nanohybrids by nanocasting approach. The negative replicated structure of In/WO3-SnO2 was tested for selective trace detection of important Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) present in human breathe (acetone, ethanol, formaldehyde, trimethylamine and 1,3,5 trimethylbenzene). The sensing results illustrate that In/WO3-SnO2 (2wt% In, Ra/Rg=66.5) showed 2.12 and 3.16 times better response than pure WO3-SnO2 (Ra/Rg=31.3) and In/SnO2 (Ra/Rg=21.1) nanocomposite for 50ppm acetone gas at a relatively lower operating temperature. The hybrid nanocomposite In(2)/WO3-SnO2 was able to detect 1ppm trace acetone gas with a significant rapid response (4s) and recovery time (2s) along with linear response, high stability, good reversibility and excellent selectivity. The present study reported rapid detection of important VOCs in a dynamic range from 1 to 500ppm and has potential application in designing a futuristic handheld nanostructured device with enhanced gas-sensing performance.