Room-temperature Sensing of Volatile Organic Compounds Using Graphene

Abstract

Graphene-based sensors are mostly studied in terms of their responses to inorganic gases such as various nitrogen oxides or ozone. In this work, chemically derived graphene (CDG) is assessed in terms of its gas sensing properties at room temperature for a selected set of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) representing different chemical classes. CDG was coated on gold interdigital electrodes on a glass substrate by drop casting. Structural and morphological analyses were realized by surface electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy techniques. Among the nine test analytes, the highest sensor sensitivities were observed for chlorobenzene, tetrachloroethylene, and triethylamine. The results show that CDG sensors arc not only sensitive to rather reactive inorganic gases, but can also be used in the detection of a wide range of VOCs.