The performance of inkjet-printed copper acetate based hydrogen sulfide gas sensor on a flexible plastic substrate - varying ink composition and print density

Low-cost and robust hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) gas sensors can be utilized in different industrial applications.Earlier we have demonstrated an inexpensive wirelessly readable copper acetate based H₂S gassensor which was successfully employed for monitoring the quality of raw poultry. In this study we havethoroughly investigated and optimized the performance of inkjet-printed copper acetate based H₂S gassensor on flexible plastic substrate at room temperature. The effect of ink composition, print density,number of print nozzles and temperature of the substrate on sensor performance was tested. The longterm stability of these sensors after exposure to H₂S was studied extensively and was optimized as afunction of the print density of copper acetate. The conversion of copper acetate to copper sulfide uponreaction with H₂S was established by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We believe that the optimizedsensor developed in this study with respect to stability, repeatability and material consumption will pavethe way for the commercial use of these sensors e.g. in food quality monitoring and environmentalapplications.