Pre-heating Characterization of Semiconductor Gas Sensors for Pollution Monitoring

An inexpensive and effective solution of gas detection is a highly desirable and relevant aspect for monitoring atmospheric pollution. A pre-conditioned, cost-effective and responsive semiconductor gas sensor may help in the early detection of sensitive and hazardous gases. This work presents the characterization and response analysis of semiconductor gas sensors. MQ and TGS sensor arrays based on Figaro and Winsen have been used for the analysis. The pre-heating sensor analysis and dynamic characterization have been done on the customized sensor arrays. A customized, real-time gas chamber has been developed to expose the sensors to isobutene gas for their characterization. ATMEGA 2560 microcontroller-based embedded platform has been developed to make an interface circuit between the sensor array and personal computer for data acquisition. Few mathematical tools have been used for data extraction from the sensor response. Experimental results show that the initial time and the initial standby response differ with different sensors selection, resulting in significant changes in settling times and settling levels. Experimental results reveal that the sensor performance of pre-heated sensors is superior to the non-pre-heated ones. Correlation between pre-heated and non-pre-heated sensors has also been done. The hardware platform provides a flexible system to facilitate further research on semiconductor gas sensors.