Issue 16, 2015

Selective detection of elemental mercury vapor using a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor

Abstract

The detection of elemental mercury (Hg0) within industrial processes is extremely important as it is the first major step in ensuring the efficient operation of implemented mercury removal technologies. In this study, a 131 MHz surface acoustic wave (SAW) delay line sensor with gold electrodes was tested towards Hg0 vapor (24 to 365 ppbv) with/without the presence of ammonia (NH3) and humidity (H2O), as well as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as acetaldehyde (MeCHO), ethylmercaptan (EM), dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), which are all common interfering gas species that co-exist in many industrial applications requiring mercury monitoring. The developed sensor exhibited a detection limit of 0.7 ppbv and 4.85 ppbv at 35 and 55 °C, respectively. Furthermore, a repeatability of 97% and selectivity of 92% in the presence of contaminant gases was exhibited by the sensor at the chosen operating temperature of 55 °C. The response magnitude of the developed SAW sensor towards different concentrations of Hg0 vapor fitted well with the Langmuir extension isotherm (otherwise known as loading ratio correlation (LRC)) which is in agreement with our basic finite element method (FEM) work where an LRC isotherm was observed for a simplified model of the SAW sensor responding to different Hg contents deposited on the Au based electrodes. Overall, the results indicate that the developed SAW sensor can be a potential solution for online selective detection of low concentrations of Hg0 vapor found in industrial stack effluents.

Graphical abstract: Selective detection of elemental mercury vapor using a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Feb 2015
Accepted
19 May 2015
First published
20 May 2015

Analyst, 2015,140, 5508-5517

Author version available

Selective detection of elemental mercury vapor using a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor

K. M. M. Kabir, Y. M. Sabri, G. I. Matthews, L. A. Jones, S. J. Ippolito and S. K. Bhargava, Analyst, 2015, 140, 5508 DOI: 10.1039/C5AN00360A

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