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Fabrication of Capacitive Sensor Based on Cu-BTC (MOF-199) Nanoporous Film

for Detection of Ethanol and Methanol Vapors

Article  in  Sensors and Actuators B Chemical · February 2016

DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2016.02.008

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Accepted Manuscript

Title: Fabrication of Capacitive Sensor Based on Cu-BTC

(MOF-199) Nanoporous Film for Detection of Ethanol and
Methanol Vapors

Author: M.S. Hosseini S. Zeinali M.H. Sheikhi

PII: S0925-4005(16)30156-3
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.snb.2016.02.008
Reference: SNB 19667

To appear in: Sensors and Actuators B

Received date: 13-7-2015

Revised date: 2-2-2016
Accepted date: 3-2-2016

Please cite this article as: M.S. Hosseini, S. Zeinali, M.H. Sheikhi, Fabrication of
Capacitive Sensor Based on Cu-BTC (MOF-199) Nanoporous Film for Detection
of Ethanol and Methanol Vapors, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical (2016),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2016.02.008

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 Fabrication of Capacitive Sensor Based on Cu-BTC (MOF-199) Nanoporous
Film for Detection of Ethanol and Methanol Vapors

M. S. Hosseinia, S. Zeinali*,a,b. M.H. Sheikhic

a
Department of Nanochemical Engineering, Faculty of Advanced Technologies, Shiraz University,
Shiraz, Iran

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b
Nanotechnology Research Institute, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

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c
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

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zeinali@shirazu.ac.ir

Abstract: Metal-organic framework (MOF), a nanoporous compound, has been used as sensing
an
material to fabricate capacitive nanosensor. The proposed nanosensor was fabricated by growing a
Cu-BTC (MOF-199) film on a copper substrate using electrochemical method. 1-methyl 3-
octylimidazolium chloride, an ionic liquid (IL), was used as conducting salt in the electrochemical
M
cell. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and BET
techniques were used to characterize the prepared MOF which shows a thin film (about 5 μm) of Cu-
d

BTC layer with particle size of 2-3 μm. In order to fabricate the upper electrode of capacitor some
e

interconnected Ag paste dots were patterned on the MOF layer which was coated on the copper
surface as back electrode. This fabricated sensor was used for investigation of the capacitance
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variations in the presence of different amounts of introduced ethanol and methanol vapors. The
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capacitive sensing parameters were measured by a LCR meter. Relative capacitance variations were
measured to verify the potential of the Cu-BTC films for using as dielectric layer in this capacitive
sensor. The linear range of the signal vs concentration is 0 to 1000 ppm for ethanol and methanol.
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Limit of detection of the fabricated sensors were 130.0 ppm and 39.1 ppm for ethanol and methanol,
respectively. The selectivity of the sensor for polar and nonpolar VOCs were examined by
introducing n-hexane in sensing chamber.

Keywords: Cu-BTC (MOF-199); Electrochemical Synthesis; 1-methyl 3-octylimidazolium

Chloride; Ionic Liquid; Volatile Organic Compound; Capacitive Sensor, Ethanol, Methanol.

 1 Page 1 of 33
 1. Introduction

Sensors are widely used in various technological applications and have become basic enabling
technologies in many fields including safety-related areas, diagnostic and drug discovery,
environmental monitoring, and food industry [1]. Based on the interaction of each device with the
analytes, a wide variety of sensor mechanisms was investigated for detection (e.g., optical, resistive,

t
capacitive, piezoresistive, gravimetric, or magnetoelastic) [2,3].

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Capacitance is a measure of electrical charge stored at a given potential. A device that stores a charge

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in this manner is called a capacitor [4]. A “chemicapacitive” sensor (or “chemicapacitor”) is a
capacitor that has a selectively absorbing material, as a dielectric [5]. Capacitive sensors have been

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mostly used in humidity sensing [6]. Chemicapacitors have been developed in two geometries:
interdigitated electrodes and parallel-plate configurations. Interdigitated electrodes consist of single
an
layer of metal deposited on a substrate to form two meshed combs with an absorbent material
deposited onto the electrodes. Parallel-plate sensors consist of a layer of metal deposited on a
substrate followed by a layer of absorbent material and a second porous layer of metal on top of the
M
absorbent material [5,7,8]. A parallel plates-based capacitive sensor has a detection mechanism
based upon changes in dielectric constant or relative permittivity of the material between capacitor
d

plates. Any changes in dielectric properties of the sensor lead to some variations in the capacitance.
The polar nature of chemicals such as alcohols causes the capacitance to increase over that of the
e

unexposed sensor [9]. Capacitive sensor designs in particular have attracted major attention because
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of their low power use, high sensitivity, good linearity, quick response, good reproducibility, and
high selectivity [6].
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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted from biological sources, paints, coatings, etc [10].
The other sources of VOCs include agricultural, energy, food processing, and manufacturing
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industries as well as items with daily usage such as solvents and perfumes. Volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) constantly risk our health and environment. During recent decades, these
chemicals have been commonly found in environment, soil, groundwater, atmosphere, and
workplaces such as research labs and industries. Volatile organic compounds are also known as
chronic health threats to human. The low flashpoint of VOCs makes them particularly threatening in
closed areas [2,11]. There is consequently a surge of interest in the development of VOCs detection.
Several new methods have been investigated to design VOCs sensors with proper characteristics.
Gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) is one of the most common methods for
quantification of VOCs. Although GC/MS is a precise method, it is time consuming and needs

 2 Page 2 of 33
expensive chemicals and apparatus [2]. Therefore, great efforts have been directed toward
developing various sensing materials for detection of these organic molecules. Particularly, there is
an increasing interest in using porous materials layers in sensing based-devices [1,2,6,12]. Recently,
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) families have been attracted in this area as nanoporous sensing
media [2,3,6,13].
Metal-organic frameworks are a class of nanoporous materials formed by the coordination of metal
cations and organic linkers [2,6,14,15,16]. Regularity and uniformity of their pore size and other

t
ip
properties make them exhibit elevated rates of molecular transport in addition to high surface areas.
Furthermore, due to high modularity of their synthesis and wide range of inorganic-organic

cr
compositions, many of chemical, mechanical, and morphological properties of MOFs can be
precisely defined [2]. The superior sorption properties of MOFs resulted in many scientific and

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technical applications in gas storage, optics, catalysis, separation, and sensors [2,6,14,17,18,19,20].
Despite the wide range of industrial applications for MOFs, little research has been conducted on
an
their implementation as sensitive layers integrated in gas sensors. Changes in properties of the MOF
layer exposed to an analyte can be measured and used to detect and quantify the gas molecule. These
alterations may include the dielectric properties of MOF layer giving rise to change in impedance of
M
the material [2]. There is an escalating interest in MOFs applications as sensors because they can be
manipulated into devices[6]. In order to fully exploit the potential of these new materials as
d

membranes, sensors, and integration with microelectronics, we preferably need to grow MOF
e

crystals as patterned thin films or coatings [21]. One of the ideal MOF candidates for thin film
preparation is 3-dimensional Cu-BTC (MOF-199, HKUST-1) porous framework, which is formed by
pt

the coordination of copper cations and benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (BTC) linker molecules and
shows good mechanical properties [6,17].
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Thin films of Cu-BTC on non-porous or porous supports are prepared using solvothermal [6,20],
electrospraying [2], and electrochemical [21] synthesis methods. Ameloot et al. has reported
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electrochemical synthesis of thin HKUST-1 films on a copper mesh by applying a voltage on a

porous support [21]. The electrochemical synthesis of MOFs originally pioneered by researchers at
BASF enables a salt-free continuous production, which is a major advantage in an industrial
environment. The principle of this method is based on supplying one MOF building block, the metal
ion, by anodic dissolution to a synthesis solution that contains the organic ligand and a conduction
salt [21].
Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts with melting points generally below 100 °C. They are attracting
wide attention and are used as electrolytes in electrochemical devices due to their negligible vapor
pressure, high ionic conductivity, wide electrochemical window and excellent solvating properties

 3 Page 3 of 33
[10,22,23]. In recent years, much effort has been directed towards the use of these ionic solvents as
structure-directing agents in materials synthesis, especially in the synthesis of zeolites and metal
organic frameworks [24]. The majority of the reports dealing with MOF synthesis have focused on
ILs derived from 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium [16].
In this work, a fabricated Cu-BTC based capacitive nanosensor was used to detect ethanol and
methanol vapors as two common VOCs for the first time. In this work, electrochemical synthesis
method was used to fabricate Cu-BTC layer on the copper slides in a new media of 1-methyl-3-

t
ip
octylimidazolium Chloride [C8 mim][Cl] as an IL. Here, IL was used not only an organic electrolyte
but also a modulator in MOF synthesis. An excellent adhesion of prepared Cu-BTC layer on the

cr
copper slide which is an important parameter in sensor fabrication process was observed. Here, we
report the design, fabrication, and application of the sensor for ethanol and methanol. We report the

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performance of proposed sensor in terms of relative capacitance variation, selectivity, response time,
linearity, reusability, and limit of detection (LOD) [25]. To the best of our knowledge there is no
an
similar report on fabricating the capacitive sensor using electrochemical synthesized Cu-BTC layer,
for detection of methanol and ethanol vapors.
M
2. Experimental
d

2.1. Materials
e

Copper plates (10×1×0.002 cm, ˃ 99.90%), 1,3,5-Benzentricarboxylic acid (H3BTC, 98%), ethanol
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(99.9%), methanol (100%), 1-Methylimidazole, chlorooctane, ethylacetate, and cetyltrimethyl

ammonium bromide (CTAB) were purchased from Merck company and used without any further
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purification.

2.2. Apparatus
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Electrochemical synthesis of Cu-BTC layer were carried out by applying a constant potential using
potentiostate-galvanostate (Behpajooh BHP 2064+, Iran). All sensing tests were done using a home-
made sensing chamber. The characterizations of MOF layer were done using scanning electron
spectroscopy (VEGA TS 5136MM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (Bruker D8 Advanced), FTIR
spectroscopy (Perkin-Elmer Spectrum RX I), and BET data. A LCR meter (KC-605) was used to
measure the capacitance of the sensor.

2.3. Synthetic and Fabrication Procedures

 4 Page 4 of 33
2.3.1. [C8 mim][Cl] Synthesis Procedure
[C8 mim][Cl] was synthesized by the reaction of 1-methylimidazole with an excess of chlorooctane.
The reactants were stirred without any additional solvent at 70 °C for 48 h. [C8 mim][Cl] was
collected and purified by several times washing with ethyl acetate; then dried overnight under
vacuum at 70 °C. A yellow viscose liquid was obtained and stored at ambient condition [26].

2.3.2. Cu-BTC film fabrication as dielectric material on copper slide

t
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The thin film of Cu-BTC crystals as dielectric layer of capacitive sensor was obtained on a pure
copper substrate surface according to Ameloot procedure [21]. In order to find a proper conducting

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salt, we examined the effect of three different ones including two ILs ([C8 mim][Cl], [C12 mim][Cl])
and CTAB for a range of concentration and considered their abilities to solve organic BTC solution.

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[C8mim][Cl] leads to a better film preparation in comparison to other used salts. It means it can make
more uniform and adhesive MOF film on the copper slide that can be stable during long period. The
an
effects of other parameters such as applying voltage, temperature, and time which can influence the
film growth were also investigated. As the best condition to make a more uniform film, an
electrochemical cell was designed by using copper plates (10×1× 0.002 cm) spaced 1 cm apart that
M
were partially immersed in 15 ml H2O/ethanol (1:4) solution containing 0.125 g BTC and 0.25 g [C8
mim][Cl]. Cu-BTC layer are grown on the anode surface by applying a 2.7 V DC voltage for 20
d

minutes, while keeping the synthesis solution at 40 °C and gently bubbling N2 through it.
e
pt

2.4. Fabrication and application of the capacitive sensor

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2.4.1. Fabrication of the sensor

The capacitive sensor was fabricated using a thin film of Cu-BTC, as a dielectric material, coated on
Ac

the surface of a copper plate. Thin film of Cu-BTC was synthesized by electrochemical method
which was described previously. Here the copper plate plays the role of capacitor back electrode.
The pre-prepared Cu-BTC coated on copper plates (section 2.3.1) should be cut into (2 × 1 × 0.002
cm) slices and used as bottom electrode of the capacitor which is coated by MOF layer. The upper
electrode was made of interconnected spots of Ag paste (Scheme 1) which were dropped on the
MOF layer. This proper configuration of the up electrode allows easy adsorption and the diffusion of
vaporized chemical compounds in the dielectric. This pattern allows an efficient interaction of
nanoporous layer of Cu-BTC with vapor molecules. Then, the electrical contacts are made

 5 Page 5 of 33
exclusively on the bottom electrode and patterned up the electrode using copper wires, and the whole
device was baked at 100 ◦C for 1 h.

2.4.2. Sensing setup

This sensor was used to test the presence of methanol and ethanol vapors as VOC analytes in a
home-made sensing chamber contained a sealed Pyrex glass chamber of 2L volume (Scheme 2). The
fabricated capacitive sensor (section 2.4.1) was placed into the test chamber where the VOC vapors

t
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were produced. The chamber was contaminated by injecting predetermined volumes of the liquid
chemicals which are evaporated in the chamber. The sensor was positioned on a stand in the

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chamber. A micro heater put in the chamber for providing vapor of the VOC analytes. The
microheater connected to a continuous DC heating voltage and electrical current of 10 V, 0.16 A and

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13 V, 0.2 A, and resulted 65 and 85 ◦C surface temperature for evaporating methanol and ethanol
respectively. After reaching equilibrium condition, the variations of the capacitance were measured
an
using a LCR meter during a certain time range with a 1 min time increments. Similar sensor set up
was reported elsewhere [27]. Both ethanol and methanol with concentrations of 250, 500, 1000, 1500
and 2000 ppm were tested. All sensing measurements were carried out under atmospheric pressure
M
and 25 ◦C. The sensor was allowed to stabilize for about 3 min before introducing the analyte.
Capacitance variations, selectivity, linearity of the response versus LCR meter frequency, response
d

time, reusability, and limit of detection (LOD) of the capacitive sensor were determined to evaluate
e

the sensor performance.

Because of the rigidity of nanoporous Cu-BTC film, changes in capacitance of the sensor by
pt

exposure to analytes (ethanol and methanol) is only related to change in dielectric constant of the
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dielectric material and not to other effective parameters of the sensor like A and d (Eq. 1, Supporting
Information). Before subjecting the sensor to analytes, the nanopores of the Cu-BTC are occupied
with atmospheric air. The capacitance value is increased after subjecting the sensor to polar analytes
Ac

(with higher dielectric constant), because the Cu-BTC nanopores were occupied with analytes (Eq. 3,
Supporting Information).

3. Results and discussions

3.1. Characterization of as-synthesized Cu-BTC
3.1.1. FTIR Spectroscopy
The FTIR spectra of synthesized Cu-BTC can be observed in Fig. 1. The FTIR spectra show
absorption peaks in the wave numbers range of 400-1700 cm-1 which is related to the main Cu-BTC

 6 Page 6 of 33
functional groups vibrations. The IR spectrum of Cu-BTC clearly evidenced an almost bidentate
behavior of COO moiety because the bands at 1651, 1448 and 1372 cm-1 are characteristic of this
coordination mode. Metal –oxygen vibration is also observed at ~500 cm-1. The results are in good
agreement with some other reported FTIR spectra for Cu-BTC [28, 29].

3.1.2. X-Ray Diffraction Analysis

The XRD pattern of prepared Cu-BTC samples was shown in Fig. 2. The peaks are clear and sharp,

t
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which indicate that Cu-BTC sample has good crystallinity. The XRD pattern (Fig. 2) shows the
presence of intense peaks in the 2θ range of 10-20 degree. All diffraction peaks match well with the

cr
data in the standard pattern, and no obvious peaks of impurities can be detected, indicating that the
as-synthesized samples are pure phase of Cu-BTC [30, 31].

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3.1.3. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
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Investigation of the size and morphology of Cu-BTC particles can be done using SEM images (Fig.
3). The well-separated Cu-BTC particles with average size around 2-3 μm can be observed well.
Cross section image shows a thin film (about 5 μm) of Cu-BTC fabricated on the copper substrate.
M
The pore size of Cu-BTC layer was about 0.53 nm proving the nanoporosity of the MOF film.
d

3.1.4. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) Analysis

e

In order to study the surface area and pore size of synthesized Cu-BTC samples, BET analysis of Cu-
BTC film was done. The results were shown in Table 1. These results indicate that the nanoporous
pt

material was obtained with reasonable surface area (704.54 m2/g) which can lead to increase the
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interaction between gaseous molecules and sensing material.

3.2. Sensor performance evaluation

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The device response strongly depends upon the testing frequencies for capacitance sensors. To find
the suitable testing frequency, we measured the methanol capacitance response under four
frequencies: 1 kHz, 10 kHz, 100 kHz, and 1 MHz. The capacitance was measured under the four
testing frequencies for concentration of 250, 500, and 1000 ppm methanol (Fig. 4). According to the
calculated R2 values, a linear behavior of the signal in different concentration of VOCs was observed
at frequency 1MHz. Similar results were obtained for ethanol detection (the results were not shown
here); therefore, 1MHz was chosen as the best applied frequency (the best linearity in capacitance
changes at different concentration of ethanol) in all experiments. It seems that this optimum value

 7 Page 7 of 33
for applied frequency depends on the dielectric nature and according to literature [6] 1MHz is
reported for the same conditions.
Fig. 5 shows the real-time evolution of the capacitance after analyte exposure. Introducing the
organic molecules into the nanopores resulted in an increase of capacitance. Changing the
concentration of analyte in the range of 250-2000 ppm led to change of both capacitance value and
response duration. Compared with ethanol, variations of capacitance values vs. analyte
concentrations are larger for methanol due to its larger dielectric constant. (Fig.5)

t
ip
The estimated limits of detection (LOD) for ethanol and methanol using this capacitive sensor have
been calculated according to [31]. Variation of capacitance versus concentration of 250, 500, 1000,

cr
1500, and 2000 ppm for ethanol and methanol were also investigated. The best linearity was
obtained in the concentration range of 250-1000 ppm for both analytes (Fig. 1S, Supporting

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Information). Calculated LOD, based on these calibration curves, are about 150.5 and 47.3 ppm for
ethanol and methanol, respectively.
an
The response and recovery times of the sensor were measured by subjecting it to 500 ppm ethanol
and methanol. As previously shown (Fig. 5), by introducing the analyte vapors, the capacitance
reached a plateau after a while in all experiments. Afterwards, a rapid decrease in the capacitance to
M
its original value took place by exposing the sensor into the air. In this step, the sensor can be used
again for next sensing cycle. The experimental response and regeneration curves of the sensor
d

measured at 1 MHz are shown in Fig. 6. The similar response curves were obtained for four and six
e

successive cycles in ethanol and methanol sensing, respectively. Therefore, it can be claimed that the
fabricated sensor can preserve its sensing properties after some cycles, especially in the case of
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methanol.
The relative capacitance variation of the sensor was calculated through dividing the capacitance of
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the sensor to the highest value of analyte by the capacitance of the sensor in the absence of analyte
CC
( ×100 ), where ΔC is the capacitance changes of the sensor in each concentration of analyte and
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C0

C0 is the capacitance of the sensor in the absence of any analyte. The results were shown in Fig. 7.
To evaluate the selectivity of the sensor to polar or non-polar analyte vapors, various concentrations
of n-hexane (250, 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000 ppm) were introduced to the sensor chamber. The
characteristic response of capacitance is shown in Fig. 8. The sensing behavior is completely
opposite to the behavior of polar analytes. N-hexane produces a decrease in capacitance, and
behavior of the sensor is similar for all these concentrations. This decreasing in capacitance value
can be the result of substitution of atmospheric water molecules previously occupied in the Cu-BTC

 8 Page 8 of 33
nanopores by n-hexane molecules. Because n-hexane dielectric constant is lower than water,
capacitance of the sensor decreases by entering n-hexane molecules into the pores.

4. Conclusion
In this work, the fabrication of capacitive nanosensor was carried out for ethanol and methanol

t
vapors sensing. A metal-organic framework called Cu-BTC was used as dielectric layer of this

ip
sensor. Electrochemical synthesis method was used for Cu-BTC film coating on copper substrate (as
back electrode of capacitive sensor). A uniform, adhesive and stable film of Cu-BTC was

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synthesized by this method. Interconnected silver paste spots were patterned on the MOF layer to
fabricate the up electrode of the capacitor. The sensor response showed good linearity at 1 MHz

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frequency of the LCR meter; hence, 1 MHz frequency was selected for all the sensing tests. The
response of the film to different concentrations of analytes was investigated, and the sensitivity and
an
LOD for sensing of ethanol and methanol were calculated 150.5 and 47.3 ppm, respectively.
The sensor showed reversible affinity towards the ethanol and methanol vapors which can facilitate
its regeneration for the next sensing cycles. Different manner of the sensors while exposing to polar
M
or non-polar analytes can be used for its selectivity enhancement. A reasonable response time,
relative capacitance variations and selectivity of the sensor to analyte vapors indicate that Cu-BTC
d

film can be successfully used for capacitive sensing applications. To the best of our knowledge, there
e

is no similar report on fabricating and using of Cu-BTC capacitive sensor in this manner for sensing
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ethanol and methanol vapors.

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Acknowledgment
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We acknowledge the nanotechnology research Institute of Shiraz University and the ministry of
science and technology as providers of financial sum, facilities, contributors, etc.

 9 Page 9 of 33
Figure captions
Fig. 1. FTIR spectrum of electrochemical synthesized Cu-BTC layer.
Fig. 2. XRD pattern of electrochemical synthesized Cu-BTC layer.
Fig. 2. SEM images of a) surface and b) cross section of synthesized Cu-BTC film.
Fig. 2. Capacitance variation of sensor vs methanol concentration (0-1000 ppm) by applying a) 1 Hz,
b) 1 kHz, c) 100 kHz, and d) 1 MHz, LCR meter frequencies.
Fig. 5. Real-time capacitive response of the electrochemical synthesized Cu-BTC-based sensor after

t
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exposure to different concentrations (250, 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000 ppm) of a) ethanol, and b)
methanol.

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Fig. 6. Cycling behavior of the Cu-BTC-based capacitive sensor after introducing 500 ppm of a)
ethanol and b) methanol analytes.

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Fig. 7. Relative capacitance variation of a)ethanol and b) methanol in the concentration range 250-
2000 ppm.
an
Fig. 8. Real-time capacitive response of the electrochemical synthesized Cu-BTC-based sensor after
exposure to 500 ppm of n-hexane.
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Scheme 1. Schematic representation of fabricated capacitive nanosensor with the Cu-BTC film.
Scheme 2. Schematic representation of sensor set up used in this work for VOCs detection.
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  10 Page 10 of 33
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framework films on a copper metal substrate, Thin Solid Films 519 (2011) 5437-5440.
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Polym. Int. 62 (2013) 335-337.

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Guzman-Vargas, R. Cabrera-Sierra, H.I. Beltran, J. Flores, Electrochemical behavior of

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e d
pt
ce
Ac

Marzieh sadat Hosseini received her BSc in Chemical engineering in 2010 from Dezful
University of Technology and her MSc in Nanochemical Engineering under the supervision of Dr.
Sedigheh Zeinali, in 2014, from Shiraz University, Iran. Her current research is focused on the MOF
layer synthesis through electrochemical and drop casting methods in order to fabricate capacitive
sensors.

  13 Page 13 of 33
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Sedigheh Zeinali studied chemistry and received her BSc in chemistry from Shiraz
University, in 1999 and MSc in analytical chemistry from Zanjan University, in 2002. She received
an
her PHD in analytical chemistry under supervision of Prof. Afsaneh Safavi from Department of
Chemistry at Shiraz University in 2010. She is currently assistant professor in Nanochemical
Engineering Department, faculty of advanced technologies, Shiraz University, Iran. Her current
research is focused on the synthesis of different kinds of MOFs and their application in fabrication of
M
capacitive gas sensors. She is also studies and researches on the application of MOFs in the
adsorption and removal of organic and inorganic pollutants from air and water.
e d
pt
ce
Ac

Mohammad HosseinSheikhi received the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Shiraz
University, Shiraz, Iran, in 1994, the M.Sc. degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering,
Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 1996, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical
engineering from TarbiatModarres University, Tehran. He joined Tohkou University, Sendai, Japan,
as a Research Scientist in 2000. After joining Shiraz University, he focused on the optoelectronics,
nanoelectronic sensors, and nanotransistors. He had been Head of Nanotechnology Research
Institute, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran from 2003 to 2014. He is currently the Head of Research
Laboratory for Fabrication of Advance Semiconductor Devices, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

  14 Page 14 of 33
 

t
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• Using IL [C8 mim][Cl] (1-methyl, 3-octylimidazolium chloride) for the first
time as conducting salt in the electrochemical synthesis of Cu-BTC layer.

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• Application of fabricated nanosensor for VOC detection at room

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temperature.
• Fabrication of capacitive nanosensor by using electrochemical
an
synthesized Cu-BTC film for the first time.
• Detection of ethanol and methanol by a capacitive nanosensor which its
M
dielectric layer (Cu-BTC film) was prepared through an electrochemical
method.
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Table 1
Results of BET surface area analysis of electrochemical synthesized Cu-
BTC layer
Parameter value
BET specific surface area 704.54 (m2/g)
LAN specific surface area 1006.05 (m2/g)
Average pore diameter 0.53 (nm)

  15 Page 15 of 33
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Scheme 1

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Scheme 2

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