A wearable gas sensor for health and environmental monitoring

Researchers at Penn State and Northeastern University have developed a highly sensitive, wearable gas sensor for environmental and human health monitoring. The sensor device is an improvement on existing wearable sensors because it uses a self-heating mechanism that enhances sensitivity. The researchers used a laser to pattern a highly porous single line of nanomaterial similar to graphene for sensors that detect gas, biomolecules, and in the future, chemicals. The nanomaterials used in this sensor are reduced graphene oxide and molybdenum disulfide, or a combination of the two; or a metal oxide composite consisting of a core of zinc oxide and a shell of copper oxide.