Ammonia Sensors for Environmental/Industrial Monitoring and Clinical Diagnostics

Dear Colleagues,

Ammonia is a natural gas that originates from both natural and anthropic sources. It is produced in soils when bacterial processes decompose organic matter, and it is also present in the atmosphere at ppb or sub-ppb levels because of human activities. In 2011, according to the European Environment Agency, agriculture was responsible for 93.6% of NH₃ emissions in the 33 member and cooperating countries [1]. Other major sources of NH₃ emission are waste, road transport, and industrial processes. In addition, ammonia is also used as a refrigerant gas [2].

However, ammonia is a primary eye and upper respiratory tract irritant. Thus, the time-weighted average (TWA) over 8 h should not exceed 25 ppm and the short-term exposure over 15 min is limited to 25–35 ppm [2]. Therefore, there is a need of reliable and effective ammonia gas sensors able to work at room or near room temperature with fast response times, good selectivity, low detection limit (sub-ppm or higher levels), low power consumption, and cheap for practical applications.

Thus, the aim of this Special Issue of Chemosensors is to give a survey of the state-of-the-art in ammonia gas sensors based on organic and inorganic thin-/thick-films sensor-based devices, as well as quartz crystal microbalance or tuning fork and optical devices for environmental monitoring, food technology, chemical plants, and clinical diagnostics, but not exclusively. Review-like contributions covering these topics are encouraged and welcomed.

References

[1] https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/eea-32-ammonia-nh3-emissions-1/assessment-4. Visited on October 30th, 2018.

[2] https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/pel88/7664-41.html. Visited on October 29th, 2018.

Dr. Jean-Marc Tulliani
Guest Editor

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• semiconducting metal oxides
• hierarchical nanostructures
• conducting/non-conducting polymers
• carbon-based materials
• composites
• metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)
• thick-film sensors
• thin-film sensors
• resistive/capacitive sensors
• quartz crystal microbalance (QCM)/quartz tuning fork (QTF)
• surface acoustic wave (SAW)
• printed electronics