Multiple Gas Sensing Device Based on Nano-Porous Structure of Zeolite Coated with Nile Red Dye

Gas detection is vital in different fields including environmental applications, clinical analysis, and homeland security. To perform these tasks, the sensors need to be stable, sensitive and selective, operate at room temperature, rapidly respond, and easy to regenerate. On the other hand, most chemical sensors often suffer from a lack of selectivity, i.e., reacting more or less similarly to a collection of substances. As a result, this has led to false alert. Moreover, in a worse scenario, the molecules to be detected have been masked by some interfering compounds. In this research, a gas sensing device has been designed for manufacturing using CMOS technology. The device integrates a nanoporous zeolite/nile red dye unit with optoelectronic detector. The device will detect and measure more than one target gas at the same time. Since we are dealing with nanoporous structures of zeolites, the device is more accurate, more sensitive, can better differentiate and detect any one chemical component in a mixture of different gases. This is achieved by incorporating fluorescent dyes into the zeolites’ cavities, measuring gas absorption, desorption and photo-chromic interaction of dye and gases, interfacing the zeolite/dye sensor arrays with light source and electronic detectors. The electronic part of the device is fully customized VLSI chip. The final device will be packaged into a portable unit.