A novel approach to data analysis for semiconductor metal-oxide gas sensors in chromatographic systems

In this work, a novel data analysis method for the exploitation of semiconductor metal-oxide-based detectors in chromatographic systems is presented and evaluated. The method exploits the properties of the detector response in the time domain for increasing the time resolution of chromatograms measured with gas sensors. The performances in terms of sensitivity and response speed of a microfabricated Cr-doped WO3 sensor array have been compared against a state-of-the-art mass spectrometer detector in order to validate the method in a demanding application such as the determination of the content of volatile organic compounds in wines.