Miniaturized planar RTIL-based eletrochemical gas sensor for real-time point-of-exposure monitoring

The growing impact of airborne pollutants and explosive gases on human health and occupational safety has escalated the demand for sensors to monitor hazardous gases. Existing gas sensors lack the miniaturization and real-time measurement capability necessary to quantify point-of-care exposure to gaseous hazards. To overcome these challenges and enable cost-effective monitoring of personal exposure in local environments, this paper presents a robust microfabricated planar electrochemical gas sensor featuring room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) as the electrolyte. Together with carefully selected electrochemical methods, the miniaturized gas sensor is capable of measuring multiple gases important to human health and safety. Compared to its larger predecessor, our manually-assembled Clark-cell sensor, this microsensor provides better sensitivity, linearity and repeatability, as validated for oxygen and methane monitoring. The microfabricated planar RTIL electrochemical gas sensor is well suited for personal point-of-exposure monitoring of hazardous gases in a real world environment.