Development of trichloroethylene gaseous sensor utilizing ZnO–Y2O3 as nanocatalyst based on thermal desorption/cataluminescence

A highly sensitive and selective thermal desorption/cataluminescence (TD/CTL) sensor was developed for the determination of trichloroethylene (TCE) gas for the first time based on catalytic chemiluminescence (CTL) of TCE on ZnO–Y2O3 (mass ratio, 2 : 1) nanocomposites. The CL intensity was linear to the concentration of TCE gas in the range from 14.7 to 586.0 mg m−3 (r = 0.9958, n = 9) with a detection limit of 4.9 mg m−3 (the signal-to-noise ratio was 3) when the sensor was performed at the optimal temperature of 210 °C and wavelength of 440 nm. The sensor features the advantages of simple construction, rapid analysis, long life-time and high selectivity for TCE gas detection, and it has been applied to the online analysis of TCE gas.