Chemically exfoliated graphene detects NO2 at the ppb level

The high sensitivity of graphene to the adsorption/desorption of gas molecule, is at the very beginning of its exploitation. This sensitivity relies on the two-dimensional nature of graphene allowing a total exposure of all its atoms to the adsorbing gas molecules, thus providing the greatest sensor area per unit volume. Indeed several technological limits weigh on the synthesis and manipulation of the material for the device fabrication. Herein a simple approach to fabricate conductometric sensors based on chemically exfoliated natural graphite is presented. The devices were tested upon sub-ppm concentrations of NO2 in environmental conditions and show the ability to detect this toxic gas down to few ppb at room temperature. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.