Photo-enhanced acetone adsorption on δ-MnO2 nanoparticles: A step towards non-invasive detection of diabetes mellitus

delta-MnO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by one-pot route using precipitation method with and without poly-dimethyl-siloxane (PDMS) addition at room temperature. FE-SEM revealed that the nanoparticles have spherical morphology with porous nature. The addition of PDMS increased the rate of reaction for the formation of nanospheres. Their volatile organic compounds (VOCs) adsorption capability was investigated by measuring contact potential difference using scanning Kelvin probe system both in the dark and ultraviolet (UV) light illumination conditions. The pure delta-MnO2 nanoparticles showed high selective gas adsorption towards acetone vapours in comparison with other VOCs namely ethanol, n-Hexane and triethylamine under UV light illumination. Interestingly, delta-MnO2 nanoparticles prepared in the presence of PDMS had enhanced response of about 1.4 times towards acetone with respect to pure delta-MnO2 counterparts. Our results showed a potential pathway to develop low cost delta-MnO2 nanoparticles assisted by PDMS based acetone sensor for monitoring diseases such as diabetes mellitus.

Automated summary

Delta-MnO2 nanoparticles were synthesized via a one-pot method, with the addition of PDMS increasing the rate of nanosphere formation. These nanoparticles exhibited high selectivity for acetone adsorption under UV light conditions, with PDMS-assisted nanoparticles showing a 1.4 times enhanced response compared to pure delta-MnO2 counterparts.