ZnO Decorated Graphene-Based NFC Tag for Personal NO2 Exposure Monitoring during a Workday.

This paper presents the integration of a sensing layer over interdigitated electrodes and an electronic circuit on the same flexible printed circuit board. This integration provides an effective technique to use this design as a wearable gas measuring system in a target application, exhibiting high performance, low power consumption, and being lightweight for on-site monitoring. The wearable system proves the concept of using an NFC tag combined with a chemoresistive gas sensor as a cumulative gas sensor, having the possibility of holding the data for a working day, and completely capturing the exposure of a person to NO2 concentrations. Three different types of sensors were tested, depositing the sensing layers on gold electrodes over Kapton substrate: bare graphene, graphene decorated with 5 wt.% zinc oxide nanoflowers, or nanopillars. The deposited layers were characterized using FESEM, EDX, XRD, and Raman spectroscopy to determine their crystalline structure, morphological and chemical compositions. The gas sensing performance of the sensors was analyzed against NO2 (dry and humid conditions) and other interfering species (dry conditions) to check their sensitivity and selectivity. The resultant-built wearable NFC tag system accumulates the data in a non-volatile memory every minute and has an average low power consumption of 24.9 µW in dynamic operation. Also, it can be easily attached to a work vest.

High-Yield WS2 Synthesis through Sulfurization in Custom-Modified Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition Reactor, Paving the Way for Selective NH3 Vapor Detection.

Nanostructured transition metal dichalcogenides have garnered significant research interest for physical and chemical sensing applications due to their unique crystal structure and large effective surface area. However, the high-yield synthesis of these materials on different substrates and in nanostructured films remains a challenge that hinders their real-world applications. In this work, we demonstrate the synthesis of two-dimensional (2D) tungsten disulfide (WS2) sheets on a hundred-milligram scale by sulfurization of tungsten trioxide (WO3) powder in an atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition reactor. The as-synthesized WS2 powders can be formulated into inks and deposited on a broad range of substrates using techniques like screen or inkjet printing, spin-coating, drop-casting, or airbrushing. Structural, morphological, and chemical composition analysis confirm the successful synthesis of edge-enriched WS2 sheets. The sensing performance of the WS2 films prepared with the synthesized 2D material was evaluated for ammonia (NH3) detection at different operating temperatures. The results reveal exceptional gas sensing responses, with the sensors showing a 100% response toward 5 ppm of NH3 at 150 °C. The sensor detection limit was experimentally verified to be below 1 ppm of NH3 at 150 °C. Selectivity tests demonstrated the high selectivity of the edge-enriched WS2 films toward NH3 in the presence of interfering gases like CO, benzene, H2, and NO2. Furthermore, the sensors displayed remarkable stability against high levels of humidity, with only a slight decrease in response from 100% in dry air to 93% in humid environments. Density functional theory and Bayesian optimization simulations were performed, and the theoretical results agree with the experimental findings, revealing that the interaction between gas molecules and WS2 is primarily based on physisorption.

Selective NO2 Gas Sensors Employing Nitrogen- and Boron-Doped and Codoped Reduced Graphene Oxide.

In this paper, we develop high-performance gas sensors based on heteroatom-doped and -codoped graphene oxide as a sensing material for the detection of NO2 at trace levels. Graphene oxide (GO) was doped with nitrogen and boron by a chemical method using urea and boric acid as precursors. The prepared samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The obtained results proved the successful reduction of graphene oxide by doping effects, leading to the removal of some oxygen functional groups and restoration of an sp2 carbon structure. New bonds in honeycombs, such as pyridinic, pyrrolic, graphitic, B-C3, B-C2-O, and B-O, were created. Compared to the nondoped GO, the N/B-rGO materials exhibited enhanced responses toward low concentrations of NO2 (<1 ppm) at 100 °C. Particularly, the N-rGO-based device showed the highest sensitivity and lowest limit of detection.