Graphene-based Nanocomposites for Alcohol Sensing

Abstract

Alcohols, especially low molecular weight alcohols, are an important type of chemical resource applied widely in various fields, including alcoholic beverage applications, and their presence in atmospheric and water pollution has increased rapidly. In addition, as one of the major biomarkers, alcohols have also been used to diagnose health conditions. Therefore, it is urgent and important to develop effective sensors for accurate alcohol detection. Chemical sensors, including electrochemical sensors, chemiresistive sensors, optical sensors, etc., have attractive advantages for alcohol sensing, such as rapid response, high selectivity and sensitivity, portability, and low cost, and their sensing properties are closely related to the structures of sensing materials. Among the recently used materials, graphene has been considered as one of the promising sensing materials and substrates, especially in composites with enzymes, nanoparticles, metallic oxides, etc. Here, we outline the recent studies and ongoing efforts in alcohol detection by graphene-based nanocomposites using electrochemical, chemiresistive and optical sensing techniques.