Microwave-based gas sensor with phthalocyanine film at room temperature

This work presents the development of a microwave gas sensor at room temperature. The design of the sensor includes a coplanar grounded wave guide where is deposited a molecular gas sensing material. In this study, the sensitive material is a thin layer of cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc), sensitive to ammonia and toluene. Submitted to an electromagnetic incident wave in the microwave range, the sensor response is a reflected wave. In the presence of pollutant, the reflected wave shape is specific to the species concentrations. The results interpretation is led at each frequency by the evaluation of the reflected coefficient, which traduces the ratio between the reflected wave over the incident wave. This study deals with the influence of molecular sensitive materials on the sensor response in the presence of ammonia (or toluene) in an argon flow. All the measurements are carried out at room temperature. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.