Non-modified (ZnO) and modified (Fe₂O₃@ZnO and CuO@ZnO) structured films are deposited via aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition. The surface modification of ZnO with iron or copper oxides is achieved in a second aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition step and the characterization of morphology, structure, and surface of these new structured films is discussed. X-ray photoelectron spectrometry and X-ray diffraction corroborate the formation of ZnO, Fe₂O₃, and CuO and the electron microscopy images show the morphological and crystalline characteristics of these structured films. Static water contact angle measurements for these structured films indicate hydrophobic behavior with the modified structures showing higher contact angles compared to the non-modified films. Overall, results show that the modification of ZnO with iron or copper oxides enhances the hydrophobic behavior of the surface, increasing the contact angle of the water drops at the non-modified ZnO structures from 122° to 135° and 145° for Fe₂O₃@ZnO and CuO@ZnO, respectively. This is attributed to the different surface properties of the films including the morphology and chemical composition.

This review summarizes the recent research efforts and developments in nanomaterials for sensing volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The discussion focuses on key materials such as metal oxides (e.g., ZnO, SnO₂, TiO₂ WO₃), conductive polymers (e.g., polypyrrole, polythiophene, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)), and carbon-based materials (e.g., graphene, graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes), and their mutual combination due to their representativeness in VOCs sensing. Moreover, it delves into the main characteristics and tuning of these materials to achieve enhanced functionality (sensitivity, selectivity, speed of response, and stability). The usual synthesis methods and their advantages towards their integration with microsystems for practical applications are also remarked on. The literature survey shows the most successful systems include structured morphologies, particularly hierarchical structures at the nanometric scale, with intentionally introduced tunable “decorative impurities” or well-defined interfaces forming bilayer structures. These groups of modified or functionalized structures, in which metal oxides are still the main protagonists either as host or guest elements, have proved improvements in VOCs sensing. The work also identifies the need to explore new hybrid material combinations, as well as the convenience of incorporating other transducing principles further than resistive that allow the exploitation of mixed output concepts (e.g., electric, optic, mechanic).

The aim of this review is to summarize the recent progress in the fabrication of efficient nanostructured polymer-based sensors with special focus on polypyrrole. The correlation between physico-chemical parameters, mainly morphology of various polypyrrole nanostructures, and their sensitivity towards selected gas and volatile organic compounds (VOC) is provided. The different approaches of polypyrrole modification with other functional materials are also discussed. With respect to possible sensors application in medicine, namely in the diagnosis of diseases via the detection of volatile biomarkers from human breath, the sensor interaction with humidity is described as well. The major attention is paid to analytes such as ammonia and various alcohols.

Love wave sensors with silver-modified polypyrrole nanoparticles are developed in this work. These systems prove functional at room temperature with enhanced response, sensitivity and response time, as compared to other state-of-the-art surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors, towards volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Results demonstrate the monitoring of hundreds of ppb of compounds such as acetone, ethanol and toluene with low estimated limits of detection (~3 ppb for acetone). These results are attributed to the use of silver-modified polypyrrole as a second guiding/sensitive layer in the Love wave sensor structure, which provides further chemically active sites for the gas-solid interactions. The sensing of low VOCs concentrations by micro sensing elements as those presented here could be beneficial in future systems for air quality control, food quality control or disease diagnosis via exhaled breath as the limits of detection obtained are within those required in these applications.

Gas sensitive cerium oxide-tungsten oxide core-shell nanowires are synthesized and integrated directly into micromachined platforms via aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition. Tests to various volatile organic compounds (acetone, ethanol, and toluene) involved in early disease diagnosis demonstrate enhanced sensitivity to acetone for the core-shell structures in contrast to the non-modified materials (i.e., only tungsten oxide or cerium oxide). This is attributed to the high density of oxygen vacancy defects at the shell, as well as the formation of heterojunctions at the core-shell interface, which provide the modified nanowires with ‘extra’ chemical and electronic sensitization as compared to the non-modified materials.