THE OPTIMIZATION OF SORPTION SENSOR ARRAYS FOR USE IN AMBIENT CONDITIONS

Solvation models have been used to define the essential measurement pa rameters for a general purpose array and candidate sensor materials ev aluated in ambient conditions. Where suitable existing coating materia ls were not available novel materials were synthesised and evaluated. Three different arrays each consisting of eight sensors were studied t o derive a final array. The resulting array of eight sensors exhibited an excellent ability to distinguish different chemical functionalitie s and was capable of detecting a slight change of molecular size withi n the same chemical group. The discrimination of two component mixture s of various concentrations was also demonstrated. Principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant function analysis (DFA) were employed to display the array responses. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All ri ghts reserved.