Chemically exfoliated graphene detects NO2 at the ppb level

Abstract The high sensitivity of graphene to the adsorption/desorption of gas molecule, is at the very beginning of its exploitation. This sensitivity relies on the two-dimensional nature of graphene allowing a total exposure of all its atoms to the adsorbing gas molecules, thus providing the greatest sensor area per unit volume. Indeed several technological limits weigh on the synthesis and manipulation of the material for the device fabrication. Herein a simple approach to fabricate conductometric sensors based on chemically exfoliated natural graphite is presented. The devices were tested upon sub-ppm concentrations of NO 2 in environmental conditions and show the ability to detect this toxic gas down to few ppb at room temperature

Valutazione delle prescrizioni ambulatoriali erogate in regime di urgenza differita in un ospedale di insegnamento e ricerca a Milano

Through a questionnaire it was evaluated the appropriate access for outpatient activities at not urgent level requested by general practitioners in Lombardia Region in a teaching and research hospital in the centre of Milan. The study took place from November 2003 to May 2004. 852 questionnaires were analyzedfor 16 specialties. Without judging the clinical appropriateness of prescriptions, the urgent level at which the visits were requested was, for the most part of them, not appropriated. But the not appropriated prescriptions were 49% of all the visits. In the case of use of inappropriate urgent level of care, patients were sent back to the general practitioner and in the case of right level of emergency patients were scheduled for a visit after some days. Results of the study will send to general practitioners for a righter use of the hospital level of care

Functionalisation of Multi-Layer Graphene-Based Gas Sensor by Au Nanoparticles

A novel gas sensor based on multi-layered graphene (MLG) functionalised with gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) is presented. We demonstrate for the first time that: (1) the signal saturates during the analyte exposure, something which does not occur in the pristine material and in graphene-based gas sensors in general; (2) the sign of the device current response is inverted. MLG is grown by chemical vapour deposition on pre-patterned CMOS-compatible Mo catalyst. The sensor is fabricated directly on the growth substrate, without any transfer of MLG. The Au-NPs are later deposited from an aerosol on the sensor at a specific controlled location, mitigating any additional patterning steps. The functionalised sensor is tested with 1 ppm (part-per-million) of NO2 at room temperature

Verification of the electromagnetic deep-penetration effect in the real world

7noThe deep penetration of electromagnetic waves into lossy media can be obtained by properly generating inhomogeneous waves. In this work, for the very first time, we demonstrate the physical implementation and the practical relevance of this phenomenon. A thorough numerical investigation of the deep-penetration effects has been performed by designing and comparing three distinct practical radiators, emitting either homogeneous or inhomogeneous waves. As concerns the latter kind, a typical Menzel microstrip antenna is first used to radiate improper leaky waves. Then, a completely new approach based on an optimized 3-D horn TEM antenna applied to a lossy prism is described, which may find applications even at optical frequencies. The effectiveness of the proposed radiators is measured using different algorithms to consider distinct aspects of the propagation in lossy media. We finally demonstrate that the deep penetration is possible, by extending the ideal and theoretical evidence to practical relevance, and discuss both achievements and limits obtained through numerical simulations on the designed antennas.nonenoneBaccarelli P.; Calcaterra A.; Frezza F.; Mangini F.; Ricciardella N.; Simeoni P.; Tedeschi N.Baccarelli, P.; Calcaterra, A.; Frezza, F.; Mangini, F.; Ricciardella, N.; Simeoni, P.; Tedeschi, N

A simple method to recover the graphene-based chemi-resistor signal

We present the development of a simple and fast method for restoring exhaust graphene-based chemi-resistors used for NO₂ detection. Repeatedly exposing the devices to gases or to air for more than 2 days, an overall worsening of the sensing signal is observed; we hypothesized that the poisoning effect in both cases is caused by the exposure to NO₂. Starting from this hypothesis and from the observation that NO₂ is soluble in water, we performed a recovery method consisting in the dipping of exhaust devices into ultrapure water at 100 °C for 60 s. The device performances are compared with those obtained after the restoration is achieved using the typical annealing under vacuum method

Low-humidity sensing properties of multi-layered graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition

Humidity sensing is fundamental in some applications, as humidity can be a strong interferent in the detection of analytes under environmental conditions. Ideally, materials sensitive or insensitive towards humidity are strongly needed for the sensors used in the first or second case, respectively. We present here the sensing properties of multi-layered graphene (MLG) upon exposure to different levels of relative humidity. We synthesize MLG by chemical vapor deposition, as shown by Raman spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Through an MLG-based resistor, we show that MLG is scarcely sensitive to humidity in the range 30%–70%, determining current variations in the range of 0.005%/%relative humidity (RH) well below the variation induced by other analytes. These findings, due to the morphological properties of MLG, suggest that defective MLG is the ideal sensing material to implement in gas sensors operating both at room temperature and humid conditions.</p

Analysis of a calibration method for non-stationary CVD multi-layered graphene-based gas sensors

Limitations such as lack of detected stationary signal and slow signal recovery after detection currently affect graphene-based chemi-sensors operating at room temperature. In this work, we model the behavior of a sensor in a test chamber having limited volume and simulating the environmental conditions. From this model, we mathematically derive the calibration method for the sensor. The approach, focused on the time differential of the signal output, is tested on multi-layered graphene (MLG)-based sensors towards the chosen target gas (nitrogen dioxide) in the range from 0.12 to 1.32 ppm. MLG acting as sensing layer is synthesized by chemical vapor deposition. Our study paves the route for a wider applicability of the analysis to calibrate the class of devices affected by non-stationary and recovery issues

Supplementary information: verification of the electromagnetic deep‑penetration effect in the real world

The deep penetration of electromagnetic waves into lossy media can be obtained by properly generating inhomogeneous waves. In this work, for the very first time, we demonstrate the physical implementation and the practical relevance of this phenomenon. A thorough numerical investigation of the deep-penetration effects has been performed by designing and comparing three distinct practical radiators, emitting either homogeneous or inhomogeneous waves. As concerns the latter kind, a typical Menzel microstrip antenna is first used to radiate improper leaky waves. Then, a completely new approach based on an optimized 3-D horn TEM antenna applied to a lossy prism is described, which may find applications even at optical frequencies. The effectiveness of the proposed radiators is measured using different algorithms to consider distinct aspects of the propagation in lossy media. We finally demonstrate that the deep penetration is possible, by extending the ideal and theoretical evidence to practical relevance, and discuss both achievements and limits obtained through numerical simulations on the designed antennas

Graphene applications in Schottky barrier solar cells

We report a theoretical study about the performances of graphene on semiconductor Schottky barrier solar cells with the aim to show the potentiality of this kind of device. The simulations are carried by a generalized equivalent circuit model, where the circuital parameters are strictly dependent on the physical properties of the graphene and semiconductor which form the Schottky junction. We have realized graphene samples and characterized them by optical and atomic force microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Capacitance-voltage measurements have been made on some ad hoc graphene based devices in order to obtain graphene workfunction, a very essential physical parameter. The estimated value is compatible with four layer graphene. This result is in agreement with the morphological characterizations of our material

Low-humidity sensing properties of multi-layered graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition

Humidity sensing is fundamental in some applications, as humidity can be a strong interferent in the detection of analytes under environmental conditions. Ideally, materials sensitive or insensitive towards humidity are strongly needed for the sensors used in the first or second case, respectively. We present here the sensing properties of multi-layered graphene (MLG) upon exposure to different levels of relative humidity. We synthesize MLG by chemical vapor deposition, as shown by Raman spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Through an MLG-based resistor, we show that MLG is scarcely sensitive to humidity in the range 30%–70%, determining current variations in the range of 0.005%/%relative humidity (RH) well below the variation induced by other analytes. These findings, due to the morphological properties of MLG, suggest that defective MLG is the ideal sensing material to implement in gas sensors operating both at room temperature and humid conditions.Electronic Components, Technology and Material