Evidence for sensory effects of a 1D organic conductor under gas exposure.

This work describes the gas-sensitive properties of a one-dimensional organic conductor before and after exposure to carbon monoxide and human breath. A sensitive material, an anion-radical salt of tetracyanoquinodimethane, has been investigated by infrared spectroscopy and electrical resistivity measurements. Drastic spectral and electrical changes are found after gas exposure showing that the compound interacts strongly with human breath, carbon monoxide, and ammonia. Under breath action the resistance changes by more than three orders of magnitude while the adsorption of CO, one of the components of breath, results in a decrease in both IR absorption and electrical conductivity. The intensity of the IR absorption spectrum of the material in the CO medium decreases down to 30% in the 2180-2500 cm(-1) range. This absorption varies by about 10% between 750 and 2500 cm(-1) after breath action. Direct electrical measurements show that actions of donor or acceptor gas result in opposite changes of electric resistance. The electrical resistance of the sample can drop down to 0.4 MΩ due to the pulse action of ammonia at 4 ppm concentration, while it increases upon exposure to carbon monoxide media at concentrations of 6-25 ppm. The response signal of the investigated samples changes proportionally to the concentration of the acting gas. The results substantiate prominent gas sensitivity of the investigated material, which might find applications for breath analysis, in particular, for the development of noninvasive diagnosis of gastric diseases.