Insights to Gas Sensors: From Fundamentals to Technology

Detection of trace levels of many harmful gases which are the by-product of technological development is one of the serious problems present in front of mankind. Gas sensors are therefore designed to detect the presence of target gas and quantify the lower concentrations of gases which may be toxic, explosive, or flammable. In addition to it, it is also significant to detect the quality and quantity of gases, moisture, and humidity in the atmosphere. Detailed analysis is useful for a variety of applications including medicine, industrial processing, and agriculture. With the advent in technology, gas sensors have been well equipped with cutting-edge communication technologies like cloud computing, internet of things (IoT), etc. The IoT is a multi-layer technology that connects various hardware (mobile devices, smart appliances, wearable, and smart gadgets) by middleware to the cloud of thing (CoT). Considering the vast potential of gas sensing technology, this chapter presents an overview of gas sensors, sensing materials and its technological perspective in context with its design and associated applications. Furthermore, a brief description of the global market size and future trends of gas sensors is also discussed.