Developed high sensitivity nitrogen dioxide sensing material; featured on the cover of a world-renowned academic journal

 

Professor Kim Do-hwan
Professor Kim Do-hwan

On the April 5th, Hanyang University announced that the University Department of Chemical Engineering's Professor Kim Do-hwan's research team conducted co-research with a multinational research team, creating the world's first "high sensitivity gas sensor sticker" which can be stretched like human skin and detect nitrogen dioxide (NO2) even within a harsh outside environment (temperature·humidity·tensile force).

The technology can not only hasten the commercialization point of smart health care and next-generation wearable electronics technology but is also expected to have a great influence on further studies of high sensibility skin patch gas sensors.

The co-research team discovered, for the first time in the world, that dramatic changes can be made on proton conductivity when ionic liquid and the harmful gas NO2 create a pi bond.

In addition, based on the above facts, the research team developed a high sensibility gas sensor sticker for the skin using iontronic sensing materials composed of thermoplastic polyurethane high molecules and high elasticity ionic fluid. The team also used nanotube electrodes. 

The developed iontronic material-based electronic skin-like gas sensor has similar elasticity as the skin, which functions when it is directly attached to the skin. The material has been tested and proved to operate steadily even under various tensile forces that are applied to the actual skin (50%, more than 300 times). Also, using the strong molecular binding characteristic between ion and NO2, the material can detect even the smallest amount of NO2 gas without changes in performance, even when it is exposed to a harsh environment (125℃, humidity 85%).

Professor Kim mentioned that "the iontronic material based gas sensing sticker that has been developed holds characteristics of high sensibility,  selectivity, and stability, which can detect NO2 by being attached to actual skin," and added that "this holds great academic and technical meaning in the next-generation wearable electronic skin area."

The research was supported by a personal research funding program (middle scaled research) of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea. The research was co-conducted with Professor Jung Hee-tae of KAIST, Doctor An Chi-won of National Nanofab Center, and the research team of Professor Kim Myung-ryang of China's Quingdao University. 


The research result (Paper Titled : Scalable Superior Chemical Sensing Performance of Stretchable Ionotronic Skin via a π‐Hole Receptor Effect) was featured on the April edition's cover for the world-renowned academic journal, "Advanced Materials".

 

April cover of "Advanced Materials" (Mimetic diagram of skin wearable iontronic gas sensor sticker)
April cover of "Advanced Materials" (Mimetic diagram of skin wearable iontronic gas sensor sticker)
Photograph of the high sensibility gad sensor sticker that is attached on actual skin, and the mimetic diagram of its chemical structure.
Gas detecting mechanism of high sensibility gas sensor sticker's NO2 gas detection.
Gas detecting mechanism of high sensibility gas sensor sticker's NO2 gas detection.

 

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