Carbon nanotubes based supercapacitor for hydrocarbon sensing in liquid state

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are components of different odor molecules and they often behave as environmental toxicants. Detection of such hydrocarbons is thus important for both sensing and environmental management perspectives. A simple design for liquid state single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) based nano-capacitor is proposed in this paper. This design excludes the long fabrication process (e.g. integration with field effect transistors, chemo resistors, gravimetric or optical sensors) but includes a simple cyclic voltammetry principle. The specific interaction between the respective hydrocarbons and SWNTs enables detection of hydrocarbons at a significant level of sensitivity (ppm).