Sensors 2014, 14, 20372-20381; doi:10.3390/s141120372 OPEN ACCESS
sensors ISSN 1424-8220 www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors Article
Temperature Modulation of a Catalytic Gas Sensor Eike Brauns 1, Eva Morsbach 2, Sebastian Kunz 2, Marcus Baeumer 2 and Walter Lang 1,* 1
2
Institute for Microsensors, -Actuators and -Systems (IMSAS), University of Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee NW1, Bremen 28359, Germany; E-Mail: [email protected] Institute of Applied and Physical Chemistry (IAPC), University of Bremen, Leobener Str. NW2, Bremen 28359, Germany; E-Mails: [email protected] (E.M.); [email protected] (S.K.); [email protected] (M.B.)
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +49-421-218-62602. External Editor: W. Rudolf Seitz Received: 31 August 2014; in revised form: 12 October 2014 / Accepted: 22 October 2014 / Published: 29 October 2014
Abstract: The use of catalytic gas sensors usually offers low selectivity, only based on their different sensitivities for various gases due to their different heats of reaction. Furthermore, the identification of the gas present is not possible, which leads to possible misinterpretation of the sensor signals. The use of micro-machined catalytic gas sensors offers great advantages regarding the response time, which allows advanced analysis of the sensor response. By using temperature modulation, additional information about the gas characteristics can be measured and drift effects caused by material shifting or environmental temperature changes can be avoided. In this work a miniaturized catalytic gas sensor which offers a very short response time (
sensors ISSN 1424-8220 www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors Article
Temperature Modulation of a Catalytic Gas Sensor Eike Brauns 1, Eva Morsbach 2, Sebastian Kunz 2, Marcus Baeumer 2 and Walter Lang 1,* 1
2
Institute for Microsensors, -Actuators and -Systems (IMSAS), University of Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee NW1, Bremen 28359, Germany; E-Mail: [email protected] Institute of Applied and Physical Chemistry (IAPC), University of Bremen, Leobener Str. NW2, Bremen 28359, Germany; E-Mails: [email protected] (E.M.); [email protected] (S.K.); [email protected] (M.B.)
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +49-421-218-62602. External Editor: W. Rudolf Seitz Received: 31 August 2014; in revised form: 12 October 2014 / Accepted: 22 October 2014 / Published: 29 October 2014
Abstract: The use of catalytic gas sensors usually offers low selectivity, only based on their different sensitivities for various gases due to their different heats of reaction. Furthermore, the identification of the gas present is not possible, which leads to possible misinterpretation of the sensor signals. The use of micro-machined catalytic gas sensors offers great advantages regarding the response time, which allows advanced analysis of the sensor response. By using temperature modulation, additional information about the gas characteristics can be measured and drift effects caused by material shifting or environmental temperature changes can be avoided. In this work a miniaturized catalytic gas sensor which offers a very short response time (
