Terahertz volatile gas sensing and sensitivity analysis based on microporous polymer structures

Microporous polymer structures (MPSs) based on multi-layered plastic meshes are experimentally approved for label-free volatile gas sensing with high sensitivity and reasonable selectivity in terahertz frequency region. Various MPS gas sensors with different micropore sizes and stacking configurations are prepared for investigation of the geometry dependent sensitivity. Identification of different volatile vapors and 1 ppm-level sensitivity for acetone vapor detection have been approached using the terahertz MPS sensor. With the optimal sensitivity, various concentrations of toxic methanol adulterated in alcoholic aqueous solutions are also successfully identified in their vapor phase. The MPS sensor is a compact, inexpensive, low loss, and highly sensitive terahertz sensing platform for industrial, biomedical, and environmental gas detections.