Nanomaterials enabled chemical sensors: Development of a hydrocarbon sensor

PHYS 495

Mayrita Arrandale, marrandale@uamail.albany.edu, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, University at Albany State University of New York, 255 Fuller Rd., Albany, NY 12203, Zhouying Zhao, zzhao@uamail.albany.edu, College of NanoScale Sciences and Engineering, University at Albany, 251 Fuller Road, Albany, NY 12203, Oxana Vassiltsova, vassiltsova@yahoo.com, Department of Chemistry, University at Albany, 1400 Washington ave, Albany, NY 12222, Marina A. Petrukhina, marina@albany.edu, Department of Chemistry, University at Albany, SUNY, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY 12222, and Michael Carpenter, MCarpenter@uamail.albany.edu, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY 12203.
Nanocomposite films comprised of CdSe quantum dots embedded in polymer matrices were studied for their potential development and use as highly sensitive and selective hydrocarbon sensing materials. In previous studies we have reported a factor of 5-7 enhancement in the sensitivity to xylenes, along with a 2-3 times enhancement in the selective detection of xylenes over toluene. This increased sensitivity and selectivity for the detection of aromatic hydrocarbons, which only differ by a single methyl group, is a promising result for the development of a portable petroleum by-products chemical sensor. The next phase of these studies is to move from sequential to parallel measurements, therefore studies have been initiated for the development of QD based arrays as the hydrocarbon sensing elements. The sensing arrays allow us to make measurements of up to six films simultaneously, which will potentially increase the hydrocarbon detection selectivity of our current experiments.
 

PHYS Poster Session - Nanostructured Materials and Nanophotonics
7:30 PM-10:00 PM, Wednesday, April 9, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Division of Physical Chemistry

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008