Chemical Selectivity and Sensitivity of a 16-Channel Electronic Nose for Trace Vapour Detection.

Good chemical selectivity of sensors for detecting vapour traces of targeted molecules is vital to reliable detection systems for explosives and other harmful materials. We present the design, construction and measurements of the electronic response of a 16 channel electronic nose based on 16 differential microcapacitors, which were surface-functionalized by different silanes. The e-nose detects less than 1 molecule of TNT out of 10 N₂ molecules in a carrier gas in 1 s.