Understanding the Potential of WO(3) Based Sensors for Breath Analysis

Tungsten trioxide is the second most commonly used semiconducting metal oxide in gas sensors. Semiconducting metal oxide (SMOX)-based sensors are small, robust, inexpensive and sensitive, making them highly attractive for handheld portable medical diagnostic detectors. WO(3) is reported to show high sensor responses to several biomarkers found in breath, e.g., acetone, ammonia, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, toluene, and nitric oxide. Modern material science allows WO(3) samples to be tailored to address certain sensing needs. Utilizing recent advances in breath sampling it will be possible in the future to test WO(3)-based sensors in application conditions and to compare the sensing results to those obtained using more expensive analytical methods.