Nanocarbon-based gas sensors: progress and challenges

Novel materials based on nanocarbons (e.g., carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene) have attracted much attention as sensing elements in miniaturized, low-power consumption, and ubiquitous electronic gas sensors due to their unique structural and electronic properties. This highlight discusses some recent progress in the research on nanocarbon-based electronic gas sensors, including CNTs, graphene, and their composites (i.e., nanocarbon-nanocrystal hybrids), identifies the technological barriers that impair their commercialization, and presents an outlook of the challenges and opportunities for the use of nanocarbon-based materials in next generation gas sensors.