A Low-Power MEMS IDE Capacitor with Integrated Microhotplate: Application as Methanol Sensor using a Metal-Organic Framework Coating as Affinity Layer

Manjunath R. Venkatesh, Sumit Sachdeva, Brahim El Mansouri, Jia Wei, Andre Bossche, Duco Bosma, Louis C.P.M. de Smet, Ernst J.R. Sudhölter, Guo Qi Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Capacitors made of interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) as a transducer platform for the sensing of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have advantages due to their lower power operation and fabrication using standard micro-fabrication techniques. Integrating a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS), such as a microhotplate with IDE capacitor, further allows study of the temperature- dependent sensing response of VOCs. In this paper, the design, fabrication, and characterization of a low-power MEMS microhotplate with IDE capacitor to study the temperature-dependent sensing response to methanol using Zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8), a class of metal-organic framework (MOF), is presented. A Titanium nitride (TiN) microhotplate with aluminum IDEs suspended on a silicon nitride membrane is fabricated and characterized. The power consumption of the ZIF-8 MOF-coated device at an operating temperature of 50 ∘ C is 4.5 mW and at 200 ∘ C it is 26 mW. A calibration methodology for the effects of temperature of the isolation layer between the microhotplate electrodes and the capacitor IDEs is developed. The device coated with ZIF-8 MOF shows a response to methanol in the concentration range of 500 ppm to 7000 ppm. The detection limit of the sensor for methanol vapor at 20 ∘ C is 100 ppm. In situ study of sensing properties of ZIF-8 MOF to methanol in the temperature range from 20 ∘ C to 50 ∘ C using the integrated microhotplate and IDE capacitor is presented. The kinetics of temperature-dependent adsorption and desorption of methanol by ZIF-8 MOF are fitted with double-exponential models. With the increase in temperature from 20 ∘ C to 50 ∘ C, the response time for sensing of methanol vapor concentration of 5000 ppm decreases by 28%, whereas the recovery time decreases by 70%.

Original languageEnglish
Article number888
Pages (from-to)1-19
Number of pages19
JournalSensors (Basel, Switzerland)
Volume19
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Keywords

  • Capacitor interdigitated electrodes
  • MEMS microhotplate
  • ZIF-8

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