Electrical breakdown gas detector featuring carbon nanotube array electrodes

We demonstrate here detection of dichloro-difluoro-methane and oxygen in mixtures with helium using a carbon nanotube electrical breakdown sensor device. The sensor is comprised of an aligned array of multiwalled carbon nanotubes deposited on a nickel based super-alloy (Inconel 600) as the anode; the counter electrode is a planar nickel sheet. By monitoring the electrical breakdown characteristics of oxygen and dichloro-difluoro-methane in a background of helium, we find that the detection limit for dichloro-difluoro-methane is similar to 0.1% and the corresponding limit for oxygen is similar to 1%. A phenomenologigal model is proposed to describe the trends observed in detection of the two mixtures. These results indicate that carbon nanotube based electrical breakdown sensors show potential as end detectors in gas-chromatography devices.