Nitrous Oxide Is No Laughing Matter: A Historical Review of Nitrous Oxide Gas-Sensing Capabilities Highlighting the Need for Further Exploration

Nitrous oxide (N2O), also known as laughing gas, is arguably one of the most detrimental greenhouse gases while concurrently being overlooked by the public. Specifically, N2O is ∼300 times more damaging than its better-known counterpart carbon dioxide (CO2) and has a longer-lived lifetime in the atmosphere than CO2. There exist both natural and anthropogenic sources of N2O, and thus, for a better understanding of sources, capture, and decomposition, it is pivotal to identify N2O within the nitrogen biosphere. This review covers the past and current low-cost N2O gas-sensing technologies, focusing specifically on low-cost metal oxide semiconductors (MOSs), chemiresistive and electrochemical sensors that can provide spatial and temporal monitoring of N2O emissions from various sources. Additionally, compositional modifications to MOsS using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are discussed, potentially facilitating new awareness and efforts for increased sensing performance and functionality in N2O detection.