Sniffing out a better electronic nose

Food and healthcare industries use devices known as electronic noses to sense gases and volatile organic compounds for different purposes, such as quality control. In the future, they may even be able to detect illnesses. These electronic noses must be sensitive, selective, reliable, robust, and inexpensive. However, it is rare for current sensors, which rely on metal oxide semiconductors, to meet all these requirements simultaneously for every analyte.

Hänsch and Loi summarized recent research pertaining to a promising alternative platform for e-noses: metal halide perovskites.

Metal halide perovskites are highly sensitive to their environment. Since the first demonstration of gas-sensing at room temperature with these materials in 2016, subsequent reports suggest their potential as sensors for multiple gases and volatile organic compounds.

“We think it is important that the community knows metal halide perovskites are good for gas sensing,” Loi said. “Gas sensing will become more and more important in the next years and new sensing methods and platforms are needed.”

The authors discussed the physical mechanisms underlying metal halide perovskite sensing and how these mechanisms align with the development of e-noses that are highly sensitive, selective, and efficient for various industries. In considering the future of sensing with metal halide perovskites, the authors noted their potential for broad applications across fields.

“This paper should be interesting both to people interested in sensing and people interested in metal halide perovskites. The latter may find a new application for their system,” Loi said. “I hope there will be more people measuring sensing properties of metal halide perovskites. We are just at the beginning of this field.”

Source: “Metal halide perovskites: A rising platform for gas sensing?,” by Paul Hänsch and Maria A. Loi, Applied Physics Letters (2023). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0151942 .