A ppb formaldehyde gas sensor for fast indoor air quality measurements

Hélène Paolacci (1) , Romain V.H. Dagnelie (1) , Dominique Porterat (1) , François Piuzzi (1) , Fabien Lepetit (1) , Thu-Hoa Tran-Thi (1)

1 LFP - URA 2453 - Laboratoire Francis PERRIN

The development of a very sensitive and selective chemical sensor of formaldehyde is presented. We describe the strategies aimed at improving the trapping and detection of formaldehyde. These strategies are based on the use of nanoporous transparent matrices elaborated via the sol-gel process and doped with a colorimetric reagent, and on a fast detection of the absorption or fluorescence of the reaction product. The properties of the sensor are studied as a function of various parameters such as the concentration of the colorimetric agent, the formaldehyde content in the gas mixtures, the presence of other air contaminants and the mixture relative humidity (0-50%). From these studies, calibration curves have been established, which allow the determination of formaldehyde content in air with a fast response time and a sub-ppb sensitivity. We also show a home-made portable and miniaturized detection system developed for this purpose.

Keywords: Formaldehyde; Fluoral-P; Nanoporous matrices; Sol-gel; Fluorescence

Domains: Theoretical and/or physical chemistry

Hélène Paolacci, Romain V.H. Dagnelie, Dominique Porterat, François Piuzzi, Fabien Lepetit, et al.. A ppb formaldehyde gas sensor for fast indoor air quality measurements. Sensors & Transducers., 2007, 82 (8), pp.1423-1430. ⟨hal-00170391⟩