A novel approach to electronic nose-head design, using a copper thin film electrode patterning technique

Presented in this paper is a process for manufacturing copper electrode patterns on alumina substrates using thin film deposition, spin coating and printed circuit board (PCB) etching techniques. The process was used for the design and manufacture of an array of gas sensors for use in an electronic nose system. This approach was executed in three phases. Firstly a 500nm layer of copper was deposited onto the alumina substrate. Secondly photoresist was applied by spin coating onto the copper layer and finally the PCB etching process was used to achieve the final electrode pattern. Conducting polymer composite materials were deposited onto the resulting electrode patterns producing an array of sensors for vapour detection. The sensor array showed good responses to Propanol at concentrations ranging from 5000ppm to 30000ppm with fast recovery times. The sensor array was slotted into an electronic nose system and an illustrative analysis of the sensor array’s ability to discriminate between different solvents was carried out with promising results.