A Micropreconcentrator Design Using Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics Technology for Acetone Detection Applications

We design and manufacture the gas micropreconcentrator in low temperature cofired ceramics (LTCC) technology. The structure is 1.2-mm thick and has lateral dimensions of 25 × 20 mm. It consists of eight layers of LTCC green tapes with spiral-shaped channel filled with absorbing powder. Two heaters covered by the ceramic foils are embedded over and below the channel. The heaters are required for heating the adsorbent to elevated temperatures during its activation and desorption processes. In this paper, we describe the fabrication processes of a micropreconcentrator structure designed for acetone detection applications together with thermal and preconcentration measurements of the device. Commercially available adsorbents: Carboxen-1018, Carboxen-1012, and Carboxen-1003 from Sigma-Aldrich are selected and tested in order to concentrate low levels of acetone. The best concentration factor obtained is 5250.