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Article: Analytical highlights.(Highlights)
- Article from:
- Chemistry and Industry
- Article date:
- June 9, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Society of Chemical Industry. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Detecting chemical vapours using microcantilevers
Loui and co-workers (Analyst, 2008, 133, 608) have developed a low power array of piezoresitive microcantilevers able to detect a range of chemical vapours. Typical vapours included water, methanol, hexane, ethyl acetate but also chemical warfare agents (VX and sulphur mustard). This device differs from many earlier micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) reported because the operating principle of the sensor is based on the static deflection of the microcantilevers caused by a swelling of a polymer coating on one side of the lever. The durability of the sensor was improved by using glassy polyolefins rather than ...