SnO₂ thin films were prepared by conventional and Glancing Angle Deposition reactive sputtering, and their gas sensing properties were investigated. The porosity of the as-prepared films was widely assessed using optical methods, and the sensing performances of these active layers were correlated with the evolution of surface and film porosity as a function of deposition conditions and annealing treatment. The sensor made of inclined columns grown at high sputtering pressure (6 × 10⁻³ mbar) and annealed at 500 °C in air exhibited the best response to benzene, with a limit of detection of 30 ppb. In addition, successful BTEX (i.e., benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) discrimination was achieved by combining the sensing signals of four nanostructured tin-oxide-based gas sensors.

We report the fabrication of a gas chromatographic column module integrated on a silicon substrate and usable as a portable measurement device dedicated to the selective detection of various chemical compounds (gas or vapour). PDMS, PEG, and F13-TEOS stationary phases have been prepared in order to coat the inside walls of microchannels. The microcolumn tests were performed with a mixture of hydrocarbons and ketone. After having evaluated the effectiveness of such a separation module, we showed an application by coupling a GC microcolumn with a metal oxide-based gas sensor. The best results were obtained at a low isothermal temperature mode of the GC micro-column (near the ambient temperature). The coupling between the GC microcolumn and a metal oxide gas sensor enables to obtain a rapid, reliable, and selective analysis of various chemical compounds.

This study deals with the development of a microfabricated detection system able to concentrate and detect ammonia. An activated carbon was used as the adsorbent material in the microfabricated gas preconcentrator. The sol–gel process used to synthesize SnO₂ sensitive surface allowed to detect ammonia at room temperature. The variation of the relative conductance of the system versus time for different ammonia concentrations was studied. Thanks to the use of the preconcentration stage, the detection limit of the system was 250 ppb.