Errors in Ambient Gas Concentration Measurement Caused by Acoustic Response of Electrochemical Gas Sensors

Electrochemical sensors are used to measure electroactive gases in ambient air monitoring applications. These sensors typically contain sulfuric acid electrolyte, and porous carbon working, reference, and counter electrodes. Current fluctuations caused by fluctuations in the meniscus contact shape or area at the 3 phase gas-electrolyte-electrode interface as a result of ambient pressure fluctuations have been suggested as a potentially significant source of error in sensor measurements. We confirm in the present work that the pressure oscillations associated with ambient sound can indeed lead to significant signals. We show, for a variety of commercial sensors for ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO2), that acoustic noise equivalent to that from a nearby motorcycle or heavy goods vehicle can cause transient current fluctuations at 2 Hz sampling rate equivalent in the sensor output to as much as that due to 100 parts per billion by volume (ppb) of NO2, and with a root mean square (RMS) variation averaged over 10 s of approximately 40 ppb equivalent. These observations indicate that electrochemical gas sensors can behave as “microphones” in response to loud noise. The impact of acoustic noise should be considered when using electrochemical sensors to measure ambient air quality in areas of significant noise pollution, particularly if the aim is to resolve local transient concentration variations.