3D Printed Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) Capillaries for Chemiresistive Gas Sensors

This paper discusses the possible use of 3D fused deposition modeling (FDM) to fabricate capillaries for low-cost chemiresistive gas sensors that are often used in various applications. The disadvantage of these sensors is low selectivity, but 3D printed FDM capillaries have the potential to increase their selectivity. Capillaries with 1, 2 and 3 tiers with a length of 1.5 m, 3.1 m and 4.7 m were designed and manufactured. Food and goods available in the general trade network were used as samples (alcohol, seafood, chicken thigh meat, acetone-free nail polish remover and gas from a gas lighter) were also tested. The “Vodka” sample was used as a standard for determining the effect of capillary parameters on the output signal of the MiCS6814 sensor. The results show the shift of individual parts of the signal in time depending on the parameters of the capillary and the carrier air flow. A three-tier capillary was chosen for the comparison of gas samples with each other. The graphs show the differences between individual samples, not only in the height of the output signal but also in its time characteristic. The tested 3D printed FDM capillaries thus made it possible to characterize the output response by also using an inexpensive chemiresistive gas sensor in the time domain.