Ethylene Detection Using Nanoporous PtTiO2 Coatings Applied to Magnetoelastic Thick Films.docVIP

Sensors 2002, 2, 331-338 sensors ISSN 1424-8220 ? 2002 by MDPI /sensors Ethylene Detection Using Nanoporous PtTiO2 Coatings Applied to Magnetoelastic Thick Films Rhong Zhang1, M. I. Tejedor1, Marc A. Anderson1, *, Maggie Paulose2 and Craig A. Grimes2 1 Environmental Chemistry Technology Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 2 Department of Electrical Engineering Materials Research Institute, 217 Materials Research Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nanopor@ Received: 25 June 2002 / Accepted: 26 June 2002 / Published: 22 August 2002 Abstract: This paper reports on the use of nanoporous Pt-TiO2 thin films coated onto magnetoelastic sensors for the detection of ethylene, an important plant growth hormone. Five different metal oxide coatings, TiO2, TiO2+ZrO2, TiO2+TTCN(1,4,7- Trithiacyclononane)+Ag, SiO2+Fe, and TiO2+Pt, each having demonstrated photocatalytic activity in response to ethylene, were investigated for their ability to change mass or elasticity in response to changing ethylene concentration. Pt-TiO2 films were found to possess the highest sensitivities, and coupled with the magnetoelastic sensor platform capable of sensing ethylene levels of 1 ppm. Key words: Ethylene, Sensor, Metal Oxide, Magnetoelastic, Nanoporous Introduction Ethylene is a plant hormone used in the regulation of metabolic processes vital in both fruit ripening and leaf-abscission. For example, ethylene has been found to induce, or be correlated with, the ripening of cantaloupe [1,2], apples [3] and tomatoes [4]. Ethylene levels have also been correlated with increasing plant respiration [5]. Traditionally gas chromatographic systems (GC) [6, 7] and photoacoustic detection systems [8] have been used to measure ethylene. However such instruments are generally i