Acetic Acid Vapor Detection via Field Ionization From Carbon Nanotube

A novel, high-efficiency detector for acetic acid vapor in ambient air is described. The design uses carbon nanotubes, grown on silicon substrate by CVD. Application of a positive bias to the carbon nanotubes generates electric fields sufficient to field-ionize passing gas-phase atoms especially for organic vapor. Under the pressure of one standard atmospheric pressure (atm), the detector was demonstrated to be capable of ionizing and detecting the acetic acid vapor and with a linear response over the entire range from 0 to 100 ppm AA.