Functionalized carbon nanotubes for the discrimination of volatile organic compounds

Oxygen plasma functionalized and decorated with iron oxide nanoparticle multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are used for detecting volatile organic compounds at room temperature. Sensors as the ones presented here, which can respond to aromatic VOCs and fully recover their baseline at room temperature, pave the way for a new generation of affordable, mass produced portable/ wearable detectors with important applications in continuous environmental monitoring or workplace protection.