EMT 4103 SENSORS AND

TRANSDUCERS ON 1ST JULY 2020

LESSON 7
1. Chemical sensors and transducers
Course expectations
 Chemical sensors
• The chemical sensor is an analyzer that
responds to a particular analyte in a selective
and reversible way and transforms input
chemical quantity, ranging from the
concentration of a specific sample component
to a total composition analysis, into an
analytically electrical signal
 Chemical sensors
• The chemical information may originate from a
chemical reaction by a biomaterial, chemical
compound, or a combination of both attached
onto the surface of a physical transducer toward
the analyte.
• The chemical sensor subject is an emerging
discipline formed by the multidisciplinary study
among chemistry, biology, electricity, optics,
mechanics, acoustics, thermology,
semiconductor technology, microelectronics
technology, and membrane technology.
 Chemical sensors
• Chemical sensors measure and characterize
chemical compounds.
•These sensors include conduct metric sensors,
catalytic sensors, and gas sensors.
We want to measure?
1)–Presence/Absence
2)–Identity
3)–Concentration
4)–Qualitative or
5)Quantitative
 How can we measure?
• Magnetic & Electric fields
•Resistance
•Capacitance
•Inductance
•Frequency
•Optical
•etc etc..
 Chemical sensors: Principle

• Sensor principle. Schematic diagram of a

sensor that produces an electrical output in
response to the presence of an input quantity.
 History of chemical sensors
• Although the history of chemical sensor dates
back not long ago, it has gained increasing
attraction for applications in environmental
monitoring, industrial process monitoring, gas
composition analysis, medicine, national
defense and public security, and on-site
emergency disposal
 History of chemical sensors
• owing to its many excellent properties such as
small size, satisfactory sensitivity, larger
dynamic range, low cost, and easy to realize
automatic measurement and online or in situ
and continuous detection.
• Hence, the chemical sensor becomes one of
the most active and effective directions of
modern sensor technology.
Classifications of chemical sensors
According to the working principle, the
chemical sensor can be classified into many
types such as
1)optical,
2)electrochemical,
3)mass,
4)magnetic, and
5)thermal.
 The optical chemical sensor
• The optical chemical sensor is based on the
changes in optical phenomena analysis arising
from the interaction between the analyte and
the receiver.
 Principle of Electrochemical Biosensors

The electrochemical sensor utilizes

electrochemical effect among the analytes and
featured electrodes.
 Mass chemical sensor
• The working principle of the mass sensor
depends on the quality change induced by the
mass loading from the adsorption toward the
analyte by the special modification of sensor
surface.
 Magnetic & thermal devices
• The magnetic device is based on the magnetic
properties in analyte adsorption, whereas
• The thermal sensor utilizes the thermal effect
generated by the specific chemical reaction or
adsorption process.
Chemical sensors bases on object
• Another way to categorize the chemical
sensors is based on the object to be detected,
that is,
• the chemical sensors can be classified as gas
sensors for trace gas analysis and monitoring,
various ion sensors represented by the pH
sensor, humidity sensor, and biosensors
made by biological characteristics.
Classification of chemical sensors based on sensing objects.
 Gas sensor as a chemical sensor
• Environment monitoring is the major application
field of the chemical sensor, therein, the gas sensor
plays a pivotal role.
• The key performance indicators of the gas sensor
include sensitivity, selectivity, and stability, which
are determined mainly by the characteristics of the
sensing material and mechanism.
• By utilizing the advanced materials and the new
response mechanism, the gas sensitive characteristic
of the sensor can be improved significantly.
 Gas sensor as a chemical sensor
• Generally, the gas sensor is categorized mainly
by its working principle as a
• semiconductor type,
• an electrochemical type,
• a solid electrolyte type,
• a contact combustion type,
• a photochemical type, and
• a polymer type.
• Each type is introduced in the paragraphs below.
 Semiconductor gas sensor

• Semiconductor gas sensor is a sensitive element

made by metal oxides or metal semiconductor
oxide materials. As regards the electrical
conductivity sensors, the resistance of their active
sensing layer changes due to contact with the gas
to be detected.
• Since the first semiconductor metal-oxide-ceramic
gas sensor was reported in 1962, the
semiconductor gas sensors have become the most
comprehensive and widely used gas sensors.
 Electrochemical gas sensor

• The electrochemical gas sensor can be

categorized into
1)galvanic cell type,
2)controlled potential electrolysis type,
3) coulometric type, and
4)ion-selective electrode type.
 Chemical sensors
• The galvanic cell gas sensor evaluates the target
gas composition by measuring the shift in current.
• The controlled potential electrolysis gas sensor
senses the target gas by measuring the electrolytic
current and is different from the galvanic cell
sensor, and a specific voltage should be imposed
externally.
• Furthermore, the oxygen in blood can also be
detected in addition to CO, NO, NO2, and SO2.
 Chemical sensors
• The coulometric gas sensor detects the target
species by measuring the current generated
by the interaction between the gas and the
electrolyte.
• The ion-selective electrode gas sensor detects
the gas by measuring the ion current with
high sensitivity and excellent selectivity.
 Contact combustion gas sensor

• The contact combustion gas sensor includes

direct contact sensor with the combustion
and catalysis combustion sensor.
• Its working principle is that oxidative
combustion of the combustible gas occurs
directly or by using catalysts in the energized
state, accordingly, the burning gas sensitive
material (Pt=Platinum wire) is heated up,
resulting in the shift in the resistance value.
 Contact combustion gas sensor
• By evaluating the resistance shift, the gas
concentration can be extracted.
• Sometimes, such a sensor is called a thermal
conductivity sensor, which is widely used for
• sensing combustible gas in petroleum
chemical plant, shipyards, mine tunnels,
kitchens, and bathrooms.
 Optical gas sensor

• Optical gas sensors include:

1)infrared absorption sensors,
2)spectrum absorptive sensors,
3)fluorescence sensors, and
4)fiber sensors.
 Optical gas sensor contd’
• The infrared absorption sensor is the most
widely used for sensing gas by measuring and
analyzing the infrared absorption peak from
various gas adsorption.
• Outstanding advantages of excellent
antivibration and antipollution ability,
autocorrection, and possibility of continuous
and longer dynamic monitoring.
 Polymer gas sensor

• The polymer gas sensitive materials have

grown enormously in the past several years,
which plays an important role in
• sensing trace poisonous gas because of its
easy operation, simple process, good
selectivity at normal temperature, low price,
and easy to combine with the micro structure
or surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices.
Metal-oxide sensors
 Metal-oxide sensors -operation
• Conductivity of the oxide can be written as:

σ0 is the conductivity of the tin oxide at 300

degrees C, without CO present, P is the
concentration of the CO gas in ppm (parts per
million), k is a sensitivity coefficient
(determined experimentally for various oxides)
m is an experimental value - about 0.5 for tin
oxide.
Using Interdigitated Capacitors as Chemical
Sensors
• Interdigital geometry
maximizes capacitance.
• Highly Sensitive to
Environmental changes.
• Arrays can be used to
increase selectivity.
• Compatibility with
MEMS fabrication
Processes.
Capacitive moisture sensor
 MOS chemical sensors

• Example, by simply replacing the metal gate

• with palladium, the MOSFET
• becomes a hydrogen sensor
 FETs for Forensic applications
Chemical Sensors
•Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN)
•Ammonia (NH3)
•Chlorine (Cl2)
•Acetaldehyde (C2H40)
•Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
•Hydrochloric Acid (HCl)
Thermistor based chemical sensors
• Principle: sense the small change in
temperature due to the chemical reaction.
• A reference temp sensor is usually employed to
sense the temperature of the solution
• The difference in temperature is then related to
the concentration´of the measured substance.
• The most common approach is to use an enzyme
based reaction (enzymes are highly selective - so
the reaction is known).
 Mass sensors
• Uses piezoelectric crystals such as quartz
• Setting them into oscillation at their resonant
frequency
• This resonant frequency is dependent on the
way the crystal is cut and on dimensions but
once these have been fixed, any
•change in mass of the crystal will change its
resonant frequency.
 Mass sensors
• The sensitivity is generally very high - of the
order of 10(-9) g/Hz and a limit sensitivity of
about 10 (-12)g .
• Since the resonant frequency of crystals can
be very high, the change in frequency due to
change in mass is significant and
•can be accurately measured digitally.
 Optical sensors
• Opto-chemical sensing are the properties of some
substances to fluoresce or phosphoresce under
optical radiation.
• These chemiluminescence properties can be
sensed and used for indication of specific materials
or properties.
•Chemiluminescence (or chemoluminescence) is the
emission of light (luminescence), as the result of a
chemical reaction.
 Optical sensors
• Luminescence can be a highly sensitive
method because the luminescence is at a
different frequency(wavelength) than the
frequency (wavelength) of the exciting
radiation.
• This occurs more often with UV radiation but
can occur in the IR or visible range as well and is
often used for detection.
 Application: Sensing particle
concentration in a fluid sample
• How it works: The dielectric constant of the
fluid between the plates fluctuates with
varying concentrations of the particles to be
detected.
• This change in the dielectric constant results
in a change in the capacitance of the plates,
which is then measured in an electric circuit.
• Minute changes in capacitance are used to
determine concentration
Application: Sensing particle concentration
in a fluid sample
Thermal lens
 Smoke and Chemical Sensors
• The detection of smoke, radiation, and
chemicals is of great importance in industrial
• processing, not only as it relates to the safety
of humans, and to the control of atmospheric
and ground environment pollution,
• but also is used in process control
applications to detect the presence, absence,
or levels of impurities in processing chemicals.
 Taguchi-type sensors
• Taguchi-type sensors are used for the
detection of hydrocarbon gases, such as
• carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane,
and propane.
• The Taguchi sensor has an element coated
with an oxide of tin, which combines with the
hydrocarbon to
• give a change in electrical resistance that can
be detected.
 Taguchi-type sensors
• To prevent depletion of the tin oxide, the
element is periodically heated and the
chemical reaction is reversed, in
• order to reduce the coating back to tin oxide.
• The tin oxide can be made sensitive to
• different hydrocarbons by using different
oxides of tin and different deposition
techniques.
 Smoke and Chemical Application
Consideration
• All processing plants and labs must have an
alarm system, which can shut down certain
operations if a problem occurs.
• These systems are regularly tested, and are
often duplicated to provide built-in fail-safe
features, such as redundancy as protection
• against sensor failure.
Industrial Chemicals and Sensors