Journal of Analytical & Bioanalytical Techniques
Open Access

Abstract

Tetrahydrofuran (THF) is an important organic synthetic material. Its vapor is harmful to human. Until now, there have been few reports about THF vapor sensors. In the present work, we report a novel cataluminescence (CTL) sensor based on nanosized binary oxide Mg?Y?O catalyst for THF vapor detection. In 1976, the CTL phenomenon was first observed by Breysse when CO was catalytic oxidized on the surface of ThO 2 . We found in this study that when the mass ratio of Y 2 O 3 and MgO is 1:2, the sensor has better sensitivity and selectivity than pure MgO. Quantitative analysis was performed at an optimal temperature of 279ºC, a wavelength of 400 nm and a flow rate of 225 mL/min. A good linear relationship was observed between the concentrations of the THF and CTL intensities when THF concentrations are within 2~ 4000 ppm (r=0.9969), with a detection limit of 0.8 ppm. When formic acid, formaldehyde, methanol, benzene, toluene, xylene, p-xylene, glycol armour ether and glycol ether passing through the sensor, only benzene, toluene, xylene, p-xylene could cause 9.2%, 9.5%, 5.1%, 6.0% interference, respectively. The activity of the nanosized binary sensing materials may be due to the increased basicity of surface O 2 ions and the increased Lewis acidity in Mg?Y?O system compared with MgO itself.

Biography

Xiaoan Cao received her B.Sc degree in 1982 from Department of Chemistry, Jiangxi University, China. She is currently working in the Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University. She has been a professor of Guangzhou University since 2002. Her interest is in the investigation of gas sensor and it?s application to the determination of harmful gases.