Microwave Gas Sensors Based on Electrodeposited Polypyrrole-Nickel Phthalocyanine Hybrid Films.

Previous studies have shown that the incorporation of sulfonated metallophthalocyanines into sensitive sensor materials can improve electron transfer and thus species detection. Herein, we propose a simple and easy alternative to the use of generally expensive sulfonated phthalocyanines by electropolymerizing polypyrrole together with nickel phthalocyanine in the presence of an anionic surfactant. The addition of the surfactant not only helps the incorporation of the water-insoluble pigment into the polypyrrole film, but the obtained structure has increased hydrophobicity, which is a key property for developing efficient gas sensors with low sensitivity to water. The obtained results show the effectiveness of the materials tested for the detection of ammonia in the range of 100 to 400 ppm. It is shown by comparing the microwave sensor responses that the film without nickel phthalocyanine (hydrophilic) produces greater variations than the film with nickel phthalocyanine (hydrophobic). These results are consistent with the expected results since the hydrophobic film is not very sensitive to residual ambient water and therefore does not interfere with the microwave response. However, although this excess response is usually a handicap, as it is a source of drift, in these experiments the microwave response shows great stability in both cases.

Real-Time Detection of Phenylacetaldehyde in Wine: Application of a Microwave Sensor Based on Molecularly Imprinted Silica.

Molecularly imprinted sol-gel silica (MIS) coupled to a microwave sensor was designed and used to detect phenylacetaldehyde (PAA), a chemical tracer of wine oxidation. The developed method is fast, cheap and could replace the classical chromatographic methods, which require a tedious sample preparation and are expensive. To reach our objective, five MIS and their control non-imprinted silica (NIS) were synthesized and their extraction capacity toward PAA was studied in hydro alcoholic medium. The selected polymers, based on this first step, were subjected to a selectivity study in the presence of PAA and three other competing molecules. The best polymer was integrated in a microwave sensor and was used to assess PAA in red wine. The developed sensor was able to detect PAA at the µg·L-1 level, which is below the off-flavour threshold.

A First Tentative for Simultaneous Detection of Fungicides in Model and Real Wines by Microwave Sensor Coupled to Molecularly Imprinted Sol-Gel Polymers.

A molecularly imprinted silica (MIS) coupled to a microwave sensor was used to detect three fungicides (iprodione, procymidone and pyrimethanil) present in most French wines. Chemometric methods were applied to interpret the microwave spectra and to correlate microwave signals and fungicide concentrations in a model wine medium, and in white and red Burgundy wines. The developed microwave sensor coupled to an MIS and to its control, a nonimprinted silica (NIS), was successfully applied to detect the three fungicides present in trace levels (ng L-1) in a model wine. The MIS sensor discriminated the fungicide concentrations better than the NIS sensor. Partial Least Squares models were suitable for determining iprodione in white and red wines. A preliminary method validation was applied to iprodione in the white and red wines. It showed a limit of detection (LOD) lower than 30 ng L-1 and a recovery percentage between 90 and 110% when the iprodione concentration was higher than the LOD. The determined concentrations were below the authorized level by far.

Critical Influence of Dielectric Sensitive Material and Manufactured Process in Microwave Gas-Sensing: Application of Ammonia Detection with an Interdigital Sensor.

In this paper, authors propose a study on microwave gas sensors and the influence of critical key parameters such as the sensitive material and the circuit conception process. This work aims to determine the influence of these parameters on the quality of the final response of the microwave gas sensor. The fixed geometry of the sensor is a microstrip interdigital capacitor coated with a sensitive layer excited with two 50 Ω SMA ports. The sensitive material has been chosen in order to interact with the target gas: ammonia. Indeed, this gas interacts with phthalocyanine and metal oxides like hematite, TiO2. To explore the effect of the circuit manufacturing process, three series of samples are prepared. The first series of sensors is produced by classical UV photolithography (process) in the laboratory. The second series of sensors is produced by a subcontractor specialized in rf circuits. The third series is obtained by the experimental platform of the FEMTO-ST laboratory with EVG620 Automated Mask Alignment System Nanoimprint lithography in a clean room. To examine the reliability of this gas sensor at room temperature, it was exposed to different ammonia gas concentrations from 100 to 500 ppm in an argon flow to eliminate coadsorption phenomena. According to the recorded frequency responses, the reflection and transmission coefficients show a change of resonance amplitude due to electrical characteristic modification. This can be correlated to the presence of gaseous ammonia. The chemical nature of the sensitive material layer has a major influence at the excited frequency range. The process of conception influences the sensor sensitivity. The analysis of the results shows a strong correlation between the injected ammonia concentration and its frequency response. The influence of the critical key parameters cited is discussed here.