Surface acoustic wave vapor sensor coated with carbon nanotubes-based nanocompositelangnuir-blodgett film

A chemical sensor based on Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) electro-acoustic structure is designed, fabricated and functionally characterized for gas sensing, at room temperature. A SAW two-port resonator integrated on ST-quartz substrate has been used in dual differential mode at resonant frequency of 433 and 915 MHz. Nanocomposite films based on filler of Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) with nanostructured properties have been prepared by Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) material processing technique to functionalize the surface of SAW devices for vapor detection. The sensing characteristics towards vapors of ethanol, methanol, acetone, m-xylene, and toluene have been measured at room temperature with good performance of the SAW sensor.