A Gas Sensor With Fe2O3 Nanospheres Based on Trimethylamine Detection for the Rapid Assessment of Spoilage Degree in Fish

Likun Liu; Shuang Fu; Xiao Lv; Liling Yue; Li Fan; Haitao Yu; Xiuli Gao; Wenbin Zhu; Wei Zhang; Xin Li; Wenquan Zhu

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2020.567584

A Gas Sensor With Fe₂O₃ Nanospheres Based on Trimethylamine Detection for the Rapid Assessment of Spoilage Degree in Fish

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2020 Sep 23:8:567584. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.567584. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Likun Liu¹, Shuang Fu², Xiao Lv³, Liling Yue¹, Li Fan¹, Haitao Yu¹, Xiuli Gao¹, Wenbin Zhu¹, Wei Zhang¹, Xin Li⁴, Wenquan Zhu²

Affiliations

¹ Research Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy, Qiqihar Medical University, Qiqihar, China.
² College of Pharmacy, Qiqihar Medical University, Qiqihar, China.
³ Procurement Management Office, General Hospital of Heilongjiang Province Land Reclamation Bureau, Harbin, China.
⁴ The Third Affiliated Hospital, Qiqihar Medical University, Qiqihar, China.

Abstract

A spherical iron oxide precursor was prepared using a solvothermal method, and then treated thermally at 400°C to obtain α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles. The structures and morphology of the as-obtained products were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the diameter of the α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles was approximately 500 nm. In addition, we formed the α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles into a thick film as a gas sensor and performed a gas sensing test. When the working temperature was set at 250°C, the α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticle displayed very good selectivity and high sensitivity for trimethylamine (TMA). The minimum detection was as low as 1 ppm, and the response value for 100 ppm TMA gas was 27.8. Taken together, our findings illustrated that the α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles could be used as a gas-sensitive material to test the freshness of fish.

Keywords: fish spoilage; nanoparticle; solvothermal method; trimethylamine gas sensing; α-Fe2O3.