Semiconductor-Type Triethylamine Sensor for Food Detection Based on WO3 Nanomaterials

Triethylamine is an effective indicator for evaluating seafood freshness. Therefore, a device capable of real-time monitoring of triethylamine is required. In this study, WO 3 nanomaterials prepared using sodium tungstate as the tungsten source were used to assemble semiconductor sensors to detect low concentrations of triethylamine at low temperatures. To investigate the effects of different structural guides on the sensor performance, citric and oxalic acids were used as structural guiding agents to obtain WO 3 nanoplates and nanoparticles, respectively. At an optimal operating temperature of 255 °C, the WO 3 nanoplate sensor exhibited a response of 56.57 to 10 ppm triethylamine, with a sensitivity of 50 in the tested concentration range of 2.5–25 ppm triethylamine, and response/recovery times of 9 s/69 s. WO 3 nanoplates performed better than that of WO 3 nanoparticles. In addition, the effect of different structural guiding agents on the sensor properties was explored, and the response mechanism of the semiconductor sensor was investigated. WO 3 nanoplate shows fast response time, high selectivity and low detection limit, that is an excellent TEA sensor, which makes it more promising used in food detection for practical applications.