Various preconcentrator structures for determination of acetone in a wide range of concentration

Abstract

In this paper, the investigation results on preconcentration of acetone at various initial concentrations are presented. The structures were made of conventional materials, such as stainless steel, quartz tube as well as fabricated in MEMS technology - micropreconcentrators. All structures have the same ‘active’ area to obtain more suitable comparison. The adsorbent materials were selected from commercial available Sigma-Aldrich Carbon Adsorbent Sampler Kit, consisting of 8 various adsorbents. The highest concentration factors were obtained by utilization of micropreconcentrator filled with Carboxen-1018, which is recommended for adsorption of C2-C3 compounds. The preconcentrators were placed into microsystem, and semiconductor gas sensor array was used as a detector unit. The microsystem was previously tested and designed for exhaled breath acetone analysis. The obtained results show that micropreconcentrator can be a useful tool for an increasing sensor sensitivity.