Driving under the influence of alcohol is prohibited or restricted in almost every country on the planet. In Canada, a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of 0.08 g dL-1 results ina Criminal Code offense and vehicle impoundment. Critical to this charge and its associated consequences is the technology assessing alcoholic content. Modern police forcesuse handheld or stationary breath analysis tools to evaluate alcohol ingestion. In orderfor punitive measures to be enforced, the reliability and accuracy of breathalyzers mustgo without question. However, methods employed to improve the reliability of modernsensors waste significant energy to control the test environment; namely humidity andtemperature of the test cell. Through a more thorough investigation of the parameterswhich govern an ethanol fuel cell sensor (FCS) response, we can design a testing cell itselfwhich is insensitive to its environment while improving the specificity.Modern FCS are based on acid-soaked poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) with a platinum oncarbon catalyst hot-pressed directly to the membrane interface. More recently, Nafion byDupont has been investigated as an alternative, strongly conductive and stable membranematerial. Both of these fall prey to water loss, limiting their response to varied environmental conditions and requiring frequent calibration. This project designs and tests engineerednanocomposite membranes to enhance the reliability of the FCS response. Increasing thethickness of Nafion nanocomposite membranes correlated with improved sensor responses.Integration of 5 wt% 1:1 ratio of sulfonic-acid functionalized nanoporous silicon dioxide tofunctionalized graphene oxide in Nafion best enhanced a FCS response in low humidity,showing stability even at 100 days in a low humidity environment.
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Improved Environmental Operation of Alcohol Breathalyzers with Functionalized Graphene Nanocomposite Membranes
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