Exclusive detection of volatile aromatic hydrocarbons using bilayer oxide chemiresistors with catalytic overlayers

Abstract The accurate detection and identification of volatile aromatic hydrocarbons, which are highly toxic pollutants, are essential for assessing indoor and outdoor air qualities and protecting humans from their sources. However, real-time and on-site monitoring of aromatic hydrocarbons has been limited by insufficient sensor selectivity. Addressing the issue, bilayer oxide chemiresistors are developed using Rh–SnO2 gas-sensing films and catalytic CeO2 overlayers for rapidly and cost-effectively detecting traces of aromatic hydrocarbons in a highly discriminative and quantitative manner, even in gas mixtures. The sensing mechanism underlying the exceptional performance of bilayer sensor is systematically elucidated in relation to oxidative filtering of interferants by the CeO2 overlayer. Moreover, CeO2-induced selective detection is validated using SnO2, Pt–SnO2, Au–SnO2, In2O3, Rh–In2O3, Au–In2O3, WO3, and ZnO sensors. Furthermore, sensor arrays are employed to enable pattern recognition capable of discriminating between aromatic gases and non-aromatic interferants and quantifying volatile aromatic hydrocarbon classifications.