Bio‐Inspired Nanostructured Sensor for the Detection of Ultralow Concentrations of Explosives

Abstract

TNT: Silicon microcantilevers modified with a three‐dimensional layer of vertical titanium dioxide nanotubes (see picture) can be used in micromechanical sensors with optical signal detection to detect low levels of explosives such as 2,4,6‐trinitrotoluene (TNT) in the gas phase, even in the presence of other volatile impurities such as n‐heptane and ethanol.

Fly‐Eye Inspired Superhydrophobic Anti‐Fogging Inorganic Nanostructures

“…By mimicking the well‐ordered multiscale structures of natural interfaces or surfaces, many artificial materials with bio‐inspired functions have already been created. For example, there are some reports on lotus leaf inspired self‐cleaning surfaces, plant and insect inspired anisotropic fog‐collection surfaces, mosquito eye inspired anti‐fogging coatings, insect eyes inspired antireflection coatings, rose petal, mussel, and gecko foot inspired highly adhesive surfaces, moth‐inspired sensors, etc . The difficulty in precisely controlling the synthesis of nanostructures that fully mimic the multiscale structure of natural surfaces, however, has encumbered the development of novel bio‐inspired nanostructures.…”

An Optical Nose Chip Based on Mesoporous Colloidal Photonic Crystal Beads

“…Thus the performance of the artificial nose depends very much on smell sensors. So far, a lot of sensors have been exploited to sense different kinds of smells . Among them, electronic sensors are the most popular gas sensors and have been successfully commercialized.…”

Strategies for designing metal oxide nanostructures

“…Fig. 3g shows some typical morphologies of TiO2 synthesized via the anodic oxidation method [135][136][137]. By controlling the synthesis parameters, such as pH value and types of electrolyte, and the addition of active ions or salts, nanoporous TiO2 layers with thickness to the order of several 10 μm and channel diameter from several nanometers to several tens of nanometers can be obtained.…”