Date added: 2025-01-24
Gas detection system using two-dimensional materials
Low-dimensional materials and structures have extremely attractive properties for the production of sensors and efficient detection of trace amounts of analytical substances. A large surface-to-volume ratio and increased surface activity of two-dimensional structures offer enhanced detection at the molecular level. In order to increase sensitivity, the surface of the material can be illuminated to obtain an optoelectronic effect (increased photocurrent and charge transfer during molecular adsorption) and a photocatalytic effect (when ultraviolet irradiation carries sufficient energy to activate surface processes).
In turn, selectivity, which is another important feature of an efficient sensor, can be improved either by material modifications at the manufacturing stage or by using an appropriate methodology in measurements and data analysis. Understanding the mechanisms behind gas detection by various low-dimensional materials and comparing their performance is crucial to optimizing the process of manufacturing gas-sensitive layers.
"In my dissertation, I presented research on gas detection supported by visible or UV radiation, where low-dimensional structures such as graphene or metal chalcogenides, which occur in two-dimensional form, are used," explains the scientist. "I showed the possibilities of using various two-dimensional structures as gas-sensitive layers in electrical devices with different configurations. Comparing the gas-sensitive properties of several tested materials is a step towards optimizing detection systems, as well as understanding the mechanisms on a microscopic scale that affect the processes observed on a macroscale."
Katarzyna Drozdowska wrote her dissertation entitled "Gas detection system using two-dimensional materials" under the supervision of prof. Janusz Smulko. The reviewers of the work are prof. Andrzej Dziedzic from the University of Rzeszów, prof. Katarzyna Zakrzewska from the AGH University of Science and Technology, prof. Monika Kwoka from the Silesian University of Technology.
Katarzyna Drozdowska prepared her doctorate while participating as a scholarship holder in the OPUS project. She is also the manager of the NCN PRELUDIUM 22 project "Light-assisted gas sensor using graphene and metallic nanostructures with the plasmon resonance effect".
Her scientific achievements already include 16 peer-reviewed publications as a co-author, including 9 closely related to the subject of her research in the doctoral thesis and 4 conference articles.
The scientist currently works as an assistant at the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics, in the Department of Metrology and Optoelectronics. 2D materials used in sensors are still a very broad topic for research, which Katarzyna Drozdowska intends to continue at Gdańsk University of Technology. In the near future, she also plans to conduct research work as part of the post-doc program.