Low-cost chemiresistive sensor for volatile amines based on a 2D network of a zinc(II) Schiff-base complex

A marked chemiresistive behavior is revealed in a nanostructured material obtained by spin-coating a solution of a bis(salycilaldiminato)Zn(II) Schiff-base (ZnSB) complex. The resulting submicron 2D network exhibits reversible changes in absorbance and resistance under the cycles of absorption and desorption of a volatile amine. These results are explained in terms of a Lewis donor-acceptor interaction between the ZnSB (acceptor) and the chemisorbed amine (donor). The 2D network of ZnSB was employed as a sensing element to fabricate a low-cost device for the volatile amines detection, showing promising results for food spoilage detection.