This book is a comprehensive introduction to nanoscale materials for
sensor applications, with a focus on connecting the fundamental laws of
physics and the chemistry of materials with device design. Nanoscale
sensors can be used for a wide variety of applications, including the
detection of gases, optical signals, and mechanical strain, and can meet
the need to detect and quantify the presence of gaseous pollutants or
other dangerous substances in the environment. Gas sensors have found
various applications in our daily lives and in industry. Semiconductive
oxides, including SnO2, ZnO, Fe2O3, and In2O3, are promising candidates
for gas sensor applications. Carbon nanomaterials are becoming
increasingly available as "off-the-shelf" components, and this makes
nanotechnology more exciting and approachable than ever before.
Nano-wire based field- effect transistor biosensors have also received
much attention in recent years as a way to achieve ultra-sensitive and
label-free sensing of molecules of biological interest. A diverse array
of semiconductor-based nanostructures has been synthesized for use as a
photoelectrochemical sensor or biosensor in the detection of low
concentrations of analytes. A novel acoustic sensor for structural
health monitoring (SHM) that utilizes lead zirconate titanate (PZT)
nano- active fiber composites (NAFCs) is described as well.
