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Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics An interactive open-access journal of the European Geosciences Union

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Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 6883-6893, 2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6883-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Volume 17, issue 11
Research article
13 Jun 2017
A smart nanofibrous material for adsorbing and detecting elemental mercury in air
Antonella Macagnano1, Viviana Perri1,2, Emiliano Zampetti1, Andrea Bearzotti1, Fabrizio De Cesare1,3, Francesca Sprovieri4, and Nicola Pirrone1 1Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research-CNR, Via Salaria km 29 300, 00016 Montelibretti (RM), Italy
2University of Calabria, Via Pietro Bucci, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy
3DIBAF-University of Tuscia, Via San Camillo de Lellis, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
4Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research-CNR, Division of Rende, c/o UNICAL-Polifunzionale, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy
Received: 30 Nov 2016 – Discussion started: 16 Dec 2016
Revised: 27 Mar 2017 – Accepted: 26 Apr 2017 – Published: 13 Jun 2017
Abstract. The combination of the affinity of gold for mercury and nanosized frameworks has allowed for the design and fabrication of novel kinds of sensors with promising sensing features for environmental applications. Specifically, conductive sensors based on composite nanofibrous electrospun layers of titania easily decorated with gold nanoparticles were developed to obtain nanostructured hybrid materials capable of entrapping and revealing gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) traces from the environment. The electrical properties of the resulting chemosensors were measured. A few minutes of air sampling were sufficient to detect the concentration of mercury in the air, ranging between 20 and 100 ppb, without using traps or gas carriers (LOD: 1.5 ppb). Longer measurements allowed the sensor to detect lower concentrations of GEM. The resulting chemosensors are expected to be low cost and very stable (due to the peculiar structure), requiring low power, low maintenance, and simple equipment.

Citation: Macagnano, A., Perri, V., Zampetti, E., Bearzotti, A., De Cesare, F., Sprovieri, F., and Pirrone, N.: A smart nanofibrous material for adsorbing and detecting elemental mercury in air, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 6883-6893, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6883-2017, 2017.
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By exploiting the photocatalytic properties of electrospun titania nanofibers, a novel conductometric sensor was designed and fabricated to entrap and detect GEM in air. Such a sensor was able to work at room temperature and was highly sensitive to elemental mercury. Since it is composed of titania and gold nanoparticles, it seems to be robust and resistant to common solvents and VOCs in the air.
By exploiting the photocatalytic properties of electrospun titania nanofibers, a novel...
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