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In this study, we developed an odor sensor system using chemosensitive resistors, which outputted multichannel data. Mixtures of gas chromatography stationary materials (GC materials) and carbon black were used as the chemosensitive resistors. The interaction between the chemosensitive resistors and gas species shifted the electrical resistance of the resistors. Sixteen different chemosensitive resistors were fabricated on an odor sensor chip. In addition, a compact measurement instrument was fabricated. Sixteen channel data were obtained from the measurements of gas species using the instrument. The data were analyzed using machine learning algorithms available on Weka software. As a result, the sensor system successfully identified alcoholic beverages. Finally, we demonstrated the classification of restroom odor in a field test. The classification was successful with an accuracy of 97.9%.

An odor sensing system with chemosensitive resistors was used to identify the gases generated from overheated cables to prevent fire. Three different electric cables for a distribution cabinet were used. The cables had an insulation layer made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE). The heat resistance of the cables was tested by differential thermal and thermogravimetric analyses. The thermal decomposition products of the cables were investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). For the odor sensing system, two types of 16-channel array were used to detect the generated gases. One contains high-polarity GC stationary phase materials and the other contains GC stationary phase materials of high to low polarity. The system could distinguish among three cable samples at 270 °C with an accuracy of about 75% through both arrays trained with machine learning. Furthermore, the system could achieve a recall rate of 90% and a precision rate of 70% when the abnormal temperature was set above the cables’ allowable conductor temperature at 130 °C. The odor sensing system could effectively detect the abnormal heating of the cables before the occurrence of fire. Therefore, it is helpful for fire prediction and detection systems in factories and substations.

We propose an artificial intelligence-based chemical-sensing system integrating a porous gate field-effect transistor (PGFET) array modified by gas chromatography stationary phase materials and machine-learning techniques. The chemically sensitive PGFET array generates cross-reactive signals for computational analysis and shows potential for applications to compact intelligent sensing devices, including mobile electronic noses.

In this study, we developed a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor chip based on 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) recognition peptide-modified single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The carboxylic acid-functionalized SWCNTs were immobilized on a 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES)-modified SPR Au chip surface. Through &pi, stacking between the aromatic amino acids and SWCNTs, the TNT recognition peptide TNTHCDR3 was immobilized onto the surface of the SWCNTs. The peptide&ndash, SWCNTs-modified sensor surface was confirmed and evaluated by atomic force microscope (AFM) observation. The peptide&ndash, SWCNTs hybrid SPR sensor chip exhibited enhanced sensitivity with a limit of detection (LOD) of 772 ppb and highly selective detection compared with commercialized carboxymethylated dextran matrix sensor chips.

This paper describes a preliminary test for sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy analysis of lipid polymer membranes. The SFG technique is used to analyze surface and structural information of molecules at gas-solid, gas-liquid, liquid-solid interfaces. A specially designed SFG system, which allows to analyze orientational polarization of polymer molecules at interfaces between a lipid polymer membrane and liquid/gas/solid, is being developed in our laboratory. A laser-induced damage threshold test of lipid polymer membranes was conducted in an early stage of this work.

This review describes an “electronic dog nose” based on a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor and an antigen–antibody interaction for security and safety. We have concentrated on developing appropriate sensor surfaces for the SPR sensor for practical use. The review covers different surface fabrications, which all include variations of a self-assembled monolayer containing oligo(ethylene glycol), dendrimer, and hydrophilic polymer. We have carried out detection of explosives using the sensor surfaces. For the SPR sensor to detect explosives, the vapor or particles of the target substances have to be dissolved in a liquid. Therefore, we also review the development of sampling processes for explosives, and a protocol for the measurement of explosives on the SPR sensor in the field. Additionally, sensing elements, which have the potential to be applied for the electronic dog nose, are described.

In rapid-melting-crystallization of network Ge-on-insulator (GOI), coalescence of growth-fronts inevitably occurs. To clarify crystallinity of the coalesced regions of two growth-fronts in GOI stripes, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses are performed. These analyses reveal that lattice planes of two growth-fronts coherently align without strains for short growth-distance (≤ 5 μm). The lattice planes at growth-fronts start to tilt gradually for growth-distance above 5 μm. For intermediate growth-distance (5–150 μm), slightly-tilting lattice-planes coherently align without generating any defects, where locally-distributed strains are induced in the coalesced regions. On the other hand, for long growth-distance (≥ 150 μm), grain-boundaries are generated in coalesced regions, and the locally-distributed strains are relaxed. The coherent lattice-alignment for growth-distance below 150 μm is attributed to atomic reordering in the coalesced regions, where coalescence occurs at high temperatures around the solidification point of Ge.

A highly sensitive and fast method for electrochemical detection of 2,3-dimethyldinitrobutane (DMNB) on a graphite working electrode modified with a TiO2 thin film including single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is proposed. Incorporation of the SWCNTs into the inorganic matrix allowed the preparation of a highly stable film with an integrated electrochemical chip. The sensing mechanism is based on the current change generated at the specific voltage due to the redox reaction of the DMNB NO2 functional group. The detection limit and sensitivity were significantly improved due to the interaction between the SWCNTs and the analyte, which considerably enhanced the electron transferability. Under the optimized conditions, the linear range of the DMNB detection was 10 ppb to 10 ppm with a detection limit of 12 ppb, showing a sensitivity of 61 nA ppb -1 .

A chemiresistive sensor based on polyaniline (PANI) nanofibers decorated with highly dispersed gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is developed to detect the volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) of human expired breath. The PANI nanofibers with a characteristic of horizontal orientation on the insulating gap area of an interdigitated electrode are prepared by a temple-free electrochemical polymerization. The formation of the fine AuNPs on the PANI nanofibers is realized by the redox reaction between HAuCl 4 and PANI in the form of emeraldine. The PANI/AuNPs sensors exhibit good sensing responses to H 2 S and CH 3 SH gases. The sensing ability of the fabricated electrodes on VSCs contained in human breath is confirmed by their response upon exposure to the expired breath of a healthy volunteer after ingesting raw garlic. The developed nanosensors, together with a multichannel sensing system, are expected to be used in breath analysis and disease diagnose related to malodor biomarker gases.

Liquid-phase epitaxial growth of Ge islands on insulator (GOI) using Ni-imprint-induced Si (1 1 1) micro-crystal seeds (∼1 μmϕ) is proposed. As a result, single-crystalline GOI (1 1 1) structures with large area (∼10 μmϕ) are realized. The transmission electron microscopy observations reveal no dislocation or stacking fault in the laterally grown regions. Moreover, the Raman measurements show that the tensile strain (∼0.2%) which enhances the carrier mobility is induced in the growth regions. This new method can be employed to realize the multi-functional SiGe large scale integrated circuits.

The lateral liquid-phase epitaxy of Ge-on-insulator (GOI) using Si seeds has been investigated as a function of the Si-seed orientation and the growth direction. Giant single-crystalline GOI structures with ∼200 μm length are obtained using Si(1 0 0), (1 1 0), and (1 1 1) seeds. The very long growth is explained on the basis of the solidification temperature gradient due to Si–Ge mixing around the seeding area and the thermal gradient due to the latent heat around the solid/liquid interface at the growth front. In addition, growth with rotating crystal orientations is observed for samples with several growth directions. The rotating growth is explained on the basis of the bonding strength between lattice planes at the growth front. This rotating growth does not occur in any direction for (1 0 0) orientated seeds. Based on this finding the mesh-patterned GOI growth with a large area (250 μm × 500 μm) is demonstrated.

By investigating the electrochemical nucleation and growth of polyaniline (PANI) on the insulating gap area of an interdigitated electrode, a template-free, in-situ approach is developed to obtain PANI nanowires and nanofibers with horizontal orientation on solid substrates. Experimental results show that the deposition process of PANI on the gap area is significantly influenced by polymerization conditions (such as polymerization current and time) and surface characteristics of the substrates (such as hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity and roughness). The concentration of solution-formed oligomers and the nucleation amount of the oligomers on the solid surface determine the morphology and orientation of the nanostructures. Controlling the deposition with high oligomer concentrations and limited nucleation amounts on the substrate is the key to the horizontal orientation. Gas sensing experiments confirm that the horizontal orientation of the nanostructures helps to improve the sensitivity and response time of ...

In order to obtain practicable nano-conducting polymer resistive sensors, we investigated the electrochemical deposition of polyaniline (PANI) on the insulating gap area of an interdigitated electrode with a gap width as great as 100 μm. We revealed that the nucleation and growth of PANI on the insulating substrate were influenced by the surface character of the substrate such as hydrophilicity and roughness. By controlling the polymerization conditions, homogeneous PANI films with various nanostructures could be obtained across the insulating gap to form resistive junctions. Among them, a loose 2D nanowire network structure showed the best sensing performance upon exposure to ammonia gas with a low concentration. Keywords: Polyaniline, Nanowire network, Resistive junction, Gas sensor, Electropolymerization

By a chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline on solid substrates treated with Au nanoparticles (Au-NPs) deposition and 4-aminothiophenol (ATP) modification, polyaniline (PANI) fibers were obtained in micro-/nanosize with two-dimensional network structures. The observation by laser scanning microscopy (LSM) indicated that the formation of PANI fibrous network occurred during the drying process rather than the polymerization. It was suggested the ATP modification on Au-NPs deposited substrate resulted in an inhomogeneous grafting of solution-formed PANI on the solid substrates, which self-aggregated to the fibrous network structure with the evaporation of water due to interchain interactions. The influence of polymerization conditions on the formation of fibrous network and the conducting property of the prepared film were discussed. Results from the gas sensing of the as-prepared PANI sensor upon exposure to NH 3 confirmed that the sensitivity and responding rapidity was improved greatly by the PANI 2D fibrous network structure. Especially, a rapid response in resistance change on NH 3 with low concentration indicated that the developed method in this work can be used to fabricate highly sensitive PANI gas sensors.

Attention has been focused recently on the harmful effects and malodor of sulfuric compounds; therefore, various laws have been enacted to regulate environmental concentration and use of most sulfuric compounds. In order to avoid sulfuric malodor, a reasonable, easy, sensitive, and selective measuring method to detect sulfuric compounds is required. In this research, we adopted the specific adsorption of sulfuric compounds to a metal surface as a sensing principle. It was suggested that polarization is an important factor of molecular recognition from results obtained by quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), ellipsometry, and stripping voltammetry (SV). Therefore, we used cyclic surface polarization impedance (cSPI), based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) under the dynamic control of an electrode potential and a constant phase element (CPE) impedance, as a detecting method for sulfuric compounds. As a result, we could detect three sulfuric compounds, hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, and dimethyl sulfide, with this method at sub ppb levels and discriminate the three sulfuric compounds. Copyright © 2009 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

This paper describes the fabrication and evaluation of new sensor chip technology based on application of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer generation 4 (G4) for enhancing surface loading capacity and efficiency for selective and sensitive detection of explosive molecule trinitrotoluene (TNT) under competitive inhibition assay format. The fabrication process of a nano-scale biosensor chip surface was optimized at various steps involving thiol layer, cross-linker, dinitro phenylated-keyhole limpet hemocyanin (DNP-KLH) protein conjugate as ligand. The top ligand layer is supported by underlying 11-amino 1-undecanethiol hydrochloride (AUT) self-assembled monolayer (SAM) and PAMAM dendrimer G4. Bis-sulfosuccinimidyl suberate (BS 3 ) was used as homobifunctional crosslinker to react with amine groups at both the ends. PAMAM dendrimer activation was achieved over 11-amino 1-undecanethiol SAMs over gold chip. PAMAM sensor surfaces scored many advantages over the planer surfaces such as enhanced antibody immobilization, allowing the use of lower concentrated antibody to work under the regime of lower detection limit besides stable and robust surface leading to longer life. Bioactive thin films were fabricated over gold chip via layer-by-layer self-assembly methods. Biomolecular interaction between DNP-KLH conjugate surface and specific TNP-gly-KLH mouse IgG antibody was monitored through surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based real-time optical transducer. The quantitation of TNT on this bioactive surface was done using the competitive inhibition immunoassay. The DNP-KLH surface biosensor has shown a detection limit of 110 ppt for TNT molecule. This TNT specific biosensor holds the promise to be most sensitive, easy to regenerate, highly stable, low response loss sensor surface under competitive assay format. A 12 s injection of 10 mM glycine–HCl solution or 50 mM NaOH solution was found adequate for regeneration of DNP-KLH surface for repeated use. DNP-KLH sensor platform was checked for its repeatability and storability.

In order to develop the fully integrated portable surface plasmon resonance (SPR) system for detection of explosives, the amplification strategy of SPR signal was investigated. Indirect competitive inhibition method allowed the middle-sized SPR sensor to detect trinitrotoluene (TNT) at ppt level. However, this enhanced SPR signal was not high enough to detect TNT at ppt level by a miniaturized SPR sensor. Therefore, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect using Au nanoparticle as further signal amplification approach was used. The amplification method of indirect competitive inhibition and LSPR were combined together for fabrication of the immunosurface using Au nanoparticle. TNT detectable range of this immunosurface was from 10 ppt (10 pg/ml) to 100 ppb (100 ng/ml), which was almost comparable to that without Au nanoparticle. The observed resonance angle change due to binding monoclonal TNT antibody (M-TNT Ab) with the immunosurface modified with Au nanoparticle was amplified to four times higher than that in absence of Au nanoparticle.

Recent concern on international terrorism and weapons of mass destruction demands the development of novel analytical methods for identification and quantification of explosive molecules. In this article, we describe the development of high-performance immunosensors for detection of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), a prime component of the landmines and bombs used by terrorist and military forces. The immunosensors were constructed by physical adsorption and self-assembly methods, and their binding interactions with a monoclonal anti-TNT antibody were evaluated for TNT detection using the surface plasmon resonance technique. A home-made 2,4,6-trinitrophenyl-keyhole limpet hemocyanine conjugate was used for physical adsorption. A poly(ethylene glycol) hydrazine hydrochloride thiolate was used in the construction of self-assembled monolayer surface and was immobilized with trinitrophenyl-β-alanine by the amide coupling method. The immunosensors were highly selective, regenerable, rapid, and exhibited remarkable...

Detection of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) is an important environmental, security and health concern for the global community. TNT is a prime constituent of most of the landmines and bombs and is highly toxic and mutagenic. Various military and terrorist activities (e.g., manufacturing, waste discharge, testing and training) have resulted in extensive contamination of soil and ground water by TNT and its derivatives. Consequently, the development and application of new sensing techniques for detection and quantification of TNT has grown steadily over the years. Despite wide variety of analytical techniques, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based immunosensors received great attention as a promising mean for TNT detection due to their advantages including high sensitivity, selectivity, good versatility and high throughput. This review explores the recent trend and advancements in immunochemical techniques for environmental monitoring and field detection of TNT. The advantages of the surface plasmon resonance as an optical signal transduction and indirect competitive immunoassay as the sensing principle are discussed with special emphasis on our investigations on TNT detection. A brief description on explosives, land-mines and the current detection techniques (bulk and trace detection) is also provided.

Mimicking the biological olfaction, large odor-sensor arrays can be used to acquire a broad range of chemical information, with a potentially high degree of redundancy, to allow for enhanced control over the sensitivity and selectivity of artificial olfaction systems. The arrays should consist of the largest possible number of individual sensing elements while being miniaturized. Chemosensitive resistors are one of the sensing platforms that have a potential to satisfy these two conditions. In this work we test viability of fabricating a 16-element chemosensitive resistor array for detection and recognition of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The sensors were fabricated using blends of carbon black and gas chromatography (GC) stationary-phase materials preselected based on their sorption properties. Blends of the selected GC materials with carbon black particles were subsequently coated over chemosensitive resistor devices and the resulting sensors/arrays evaluated in exposure experiments against vapors of pyrrole, benzenal, nonanal, and 2-phenethylamine at 150, 300, 450, and 900 ppb. Responses of the fabricated 16-element array were stable and differed for each individual odorant sample, proving the blends of GC materials with carbon black particles can be effectively used for fabrication of large odor-sensing arrays based on chemosensitive resistors. The obtained results suggest that the proposed sensing devices could be effective in discriminating odor/vapor samples at the sub-ppm level.

A multichannel taste sensor can respond to many kinds of chemical substances simultaneously with high sensitivity. It has a possibility to measure various substances that remain in used food packages. The purpose of the present research is to detect chemical substances which were dissolved to aqueous solution from three materials such as raw materials of PET bottles (poly (ethyleneterephthalate)), used PET bottles and recycled egg packages. We found that there is no metalic ions in these samples and hydrophobic substances were dissolved from used PET bottles and recycled egg packages. Additionally, we used near-infrared spectroscopy to analyze the substances; however, no significant spectrum was not found. This result implies that the multichannel taste sensor can be used to evaluate the quality of recycled food packages.

We have developed a new portable taste sensor with a lipid/polymer membrane and conducted experiments to evaluate the sensor’s performance. The fabricated sensor consists of a taste sensor chip (40 mm × 26 mm × 2.2 mm) with working and reference electrodes and a portable sensor device (80 mm × 25 mm × 20 mm). The working electrode consists of a taste-sensing site comprising a poly(hydroxyethyl)methacrylate (pHEMA) hydrogel layer with KCl as the electrolyte layer and a lipid/polymer membrane as the taste sensing element. The reference electrode comprises a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membrane layer with a small hole and a pHEMA layer with KCl. The whole device is the size of a USB memory stick, making it suitable for portable use. The sensor’s response to tannic acid as the standard astringency substance showed good accuracy and reproducibility, and was comparable with the performance of a commercially available taste sensing system. Thus, it is possible for this sensor to be used for in-field evaluations and it can make a significant contribution to the food industry, as well as in various fields of research.

The taste of Japanese sake was investigated using a taste sensor with eight kinds of lipid membranes and an enzymatic glucose sensor. The electric-potential pattern constructed of eight outputs from the taste sensor has information on the taste quality and intensity. A standard solution for sake measurement was synthesized. Therefore, chemical meanings were assigned to two perpendicular axes transformed from the nine variables of outputs from the two sensors; commercial brands of sake were scattered on this plane. The taste of sake was discussed objectively.

The purpose of this study is the development of a multichannel taste sensor chip for use in a portable taste sensor. The chip comprises a set of Ti/Ag patterned electrodes with lipid/polymer membranes and a reference electrode. The electrodes are formed on a polycarbonate substrate, which is attached to a polycarbonate sheet by double-sided adhesive tape (polyimide). The polycarbonate sheet has a number of holes in it that give access to the electrodes thus forming multichannel taste sensing sites. A sensor chip was fabricated and evaluated for its performance in tasting samples with basic tastes. The reference electrode did not interact with the basic taste samples, thus providing a stable potential. The outputs from the sensor chip for the various taste samples were at the same levels as those from a conventional taste sensor, indicating that this new taste sensor could provide the key element in the development of a portable taste sensor.

The mechanism of the oscillatory electric potential of a dioleyl phosphate (DOPH) layer in a single hole sandwiched by two KCl solutions, 100 mM and 5 mM, was investigated using two types of cells for axial and transverse observations. It was discovered that the electrical oscillation was related to a macroscopic behavior of the interfaces between DOPH and KCl solutions caused by a chemically driven surface tension effect.

By directly chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline on Au electrode treated with Au nanoparticles (Au‐NPs) deposition and 4‐aminothiophenol (ATP) modification, polyaniline (PANI) fibers were obtained in‐situ in micro‐/nano‐ size with two dimensional network structures. It was found that the ATP modification played an important role for the formation of fibrous network and in the decrease in the contact resistance between the PANI film and the electrode surface. The PANI film showed a rapid response upon the exposure to various gases with low detection limit, which indicated that the developed PANI sensor could be applied in the high sensitive detection of hazardous gases.

Highly sensitive and selective detection of 2,4-DNT, a representative explosive, was achieved by the synergic effect of molecular imprinting and host (cyclodextrin)-guest interaction in ultrathin layers of TiO(2) and SiO(2) gel; the detection limit using cSPI measurements reached nM concentration.

Electron acceptor molecules form charge transfer (CT) complexes with electron donors. CT complexes are known as an organic conductive material. In this report, we suggest a nanowire sensor to detect electron-acceptive aromatic nitro compounds by conductance switching brought on by charge transfer interaction. The sensor surface possesses a molecular wire network formed by bridging nanogaps between Au nanoparticles (Au-NPs) with electron donor oligothiophene. The Au-NPs were fabricated by sputter deposition with controlling the particle-size and the gap-size. We confirmed the oligothiophene bridging by resistivity and the formation of CT interaction between oligothiophene and electron acceptors by fluorescence quenching. The conductance of the sensor electrode was increased by adsorption of electron acceptors, such as iodine and aromatic nitro compounds.

Recently, the electrical characteristics of metal-molecule-metal nanowires are studied. Interaction between the junction molecule and the analytes will affect the molecular orbital that alters a conductive path. We have been interested in charge transfer (CT) interaction that induces the partial transfer of electron from an electron donor to an electron acceptor. The measurement result obtained with crossed-wire tunneling junction indicated that the CT interaction provides a significant conductance change of the junction molecule. In this report, we suggest a nanowire sensor to detect volatile organic compounds (VOC) by conductance switching brought on by the charge transfer interaction. The sensor surface possesses a molecular wire network formed by bridging nanogaps between Au nanoparticles (Au-NPs) with electron donor molecules. The Au-NPs were fabricated by sputter deposition with controlling the particle-size and the gap-size. We confirmed the donor oligothiophene bridging by resistance transition and the formation of CT interaction between oligothiophene and analytes by fluorescence quenching. The conductance of the sensor electrode increased by adsorption of electron acceptors, such as iodine and aromatic nitro compounds.

This paper reports miniaturization on one-chip size of a receptor part of taste sensor, which can measure the taste using lipid/polymer membranes. The miniaturization was made by producing metal electrodes and making lipid/polymer membranes deposit on a glass substrate. The reference electrode also realized a miniaturization and stabilization of potential according to laminating structures of pHEMA and polymer layers. Therefore, an integration of the working and the reference electrodes was attained on the chip. By realization of this taste sensor chip, taste measurement can be easily performed now in all places, such as the distribution industry and the medicine manufacture industry, including the food industry. Moreover, we succeeded to fabricate the portable taste sensor system which unified the amplifier, a data-processing unit and an LCD display