{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T02:37:27Z","timestamp":1760236647039,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"24","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,10]],"date-time":"2021-12-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1639094400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In environments polluted by mercury vapors that are potentially harmful to human health, there is a need to perform rapid surveys in order to promptly identify the sources of emission. With this aim, in this work, a low cost, pocket-sized portable mercury measurement system, with a fast response signal is presented. It consists of a preconcentrator, able to adsorb and subsequently release the mercury vapour detected by a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor. The preconcentrator is based on an adsorbing layer of titania\/gold nanoparticles (TiO2NP\/AuNPs), deposited on a micro-heater that acts as mercury thermal desorption. For the detection of the released mercury vapour, gold electrodes QCM (20 MHz) have been used. The experimental results, performed in simulated polluted mercury-vapour environments, showed a detection capability with a prompt response. In particular, frequency shifts (\u2212118 Hz \u00b1 2 Hz and \u221230 Hz \u00b1 2 Hz) were detected at concentrations of 65 \u00b5g\/m3 Hg0 and 30 \u00b5g\/m3 Hg0, with sampling times of 60 min and 30 min, respectively. A system limit of detection (LOD) of 5 \u00b5g\/m3 was evaluated for the 30 min sampling time.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s21248255","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,10]],"date-time":"2021-12-10T08:17:58Z","timestamp":1639124278000},"page":"8255","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Pocket Mercury-Vapour Detection System Employing a Preconcentrator Based on Au-TiO2 Nanomaterials"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4344-5547","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emiliano","family":"Zampetti","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research\u2013National Research Council (IIA-CNR), Research Area of Rome 1, Strada Provinciale 35d, 9, 00010 Montelibretti, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3794-3988","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paolo","family":"Papa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research\u2013National Research Council (IIA-CNR), Research Area of Rome 1, Strada Provinciale 35d, 9, 00010 Montelibretti, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7513-6581","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Bearzotti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research\u2013National Research Council (IIA-CNR), Research Area of Rome 1, Strada Provinciale 35d, 9, 00010 Montelibretti, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6015-4832","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonella","family":"Macagnano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research\u2013National Research Council (IIA-CNR), Research Area of Rome 1, Strada Provinciale 35d, 9, 00010 Montelibretti, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"341","DOI":"10.1007\/s12011-018-1380-4","article-title":"Mercury Involvement in Neuronal Damage and in Neurodegenerative Diseases","volume":"187","author":"Cariccio","year":"2018","journal-title":"Biol. Trace Elem. Res."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"344","DOI":"10.3961\/jpmph.2012.45.6.344","article-title":"Human exposure and health effects of inorganic and elemental mercury","volume":"45","author":"Park","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Prev. Med. Public Health"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"221","DOI":"10.1080\/00984108.1996.11667600","article-title":"Human Exposure to Mercury: A Critical Assessment of the Evidence of Adverse Health Effects","volume":"49","author":"Ratcliffe","year":"1996","journal-title":"J. Toxicol. Environ. Health Part A"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11312","DOI":"10.1021\/es503109p","article-title":"Elemental mercury concentrations and fluxes in the tropical atmosphere and ocean","volume":"48","author":"Soerensen","year":"2014","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5697","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-15-5697-2015","article-title":"Measuring and modeling mercury in the atmosphere: A critical review","volume":"15","author":"Gustin","year":"2015","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.estlett.5b00319","article-title":"A High-Precision Passive Air Sampler for Gaseous Mercury","volume":"3","author":"McLagan","year":"2016","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Macagnano, A., Papa, P., Avossa, J., Perri, V., Marelli, M., Sprovieri, F., Zampetti, E., De Cesare, F., Bearzotti, A., and Pirrone, N. (2018). Passive Sampling of Gaseous Elemental Mercury Based on a Composite TiO2NP\/AuNP Layer. Nanomaterials, 8.","DOI":"10.3390\/nano8100798"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2351","DOI":"10.1029\/2018JD029373","article-title":"Characterization and Quantification of Atmospheric Mercury Sources Using Passive Air Samplers","volume":"124","author":"McLagan","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Atmos."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"154","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2011.09.006","article-title":"Mercury contamination from artisanal gold mining in Antioquia, Colombia: The world\u2019s highest per capita mercury pollution","volume":"410-411","author":"Cordy","year":"2011","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Urba, A., Kvietkus, K., Sakalys, J., Xiao, Z., and Lindqvist, O. (1995). A new sensitive and portable mercury vapor analyzer Gardis-1A. Mercury as a Global Pollutant, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-011-0153-0_148"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3007","DOI":"10.1016\/S1352-2310(01)00104-2","article-title":"Intercomparison of methods for sampling and analysis of atmospheric mercury species","volume":"35","author":"Munthe","year":"2001","journal-title":"Atmos. Environ."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13195","DOI":"10.1007\/s11356-018-1775-y","article-title":"Adaption and use of a quadcopter for targeted sampling of gaseous mercury in the atmosphere","volume":"25","author":"Black","year":"2018","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1333","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2017.01.033","article-title":"Top-down approach from satellite to terrestrial rover application for environmental monitoring of landfills","volume":"584\u2013585","author":"Manzo","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aca.2010.12.039","article-title":"A micro gas preconcentrator with improved performance for pollution monitoring and explosives detection","volume":"688","author":"Camara","year":"2011","journal-title":"Anal. Chim. Acta"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lara-Ibeas, I., Cuevas, A.R., and Le Calv\u00e9, S. (2021). Recent developments and trends in miniaturized gas preconcentrators for portable gas chromatography systems: A review. Sens. Actuators B Chem., 346.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.snb.2021.130449"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rodr\u00edguez-Cuevas, A., Lara-Ibeas, I., Leprince, A., Wolf, M., and Le Calv\u00e9, S. (2020). Easy-to-manufacture micro gas preconcentrator in-tegrated in a portable GC for enhanced trace detection of BTEX. Sens. Actuators B Chem., 324.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.snb.2020.128690"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sna.2018.12.035","article-title":"A review of quartz crystal microbalances for space applications","volume":"287","author":"Dirri","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sensors Actuators A Phys."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1491","DOI":"10.1021\/am507069z","article-title":"Nanosphere Monolayer on a Transducer for Enhanced Detection of Gaseous Heavy Metal","volume":"7","author":"Sabri","year":"2015","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"223","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aca.2007.06.050","article-title":"Polymer coated quartz crystal microbalance sensors for detection of volatile organic compounds in gas mixtures","volume":"597","author":"Si","year":"2007","journal-title":"Anal. Chim. Acta"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"285","DOI":"10.1016\/S0924-4247(00)00391-5","article-title":"Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) used as humidity sensor","volume":"84","author":"Sorli","year":"2000","journal-title":"Sens. Actuators A Phys."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23172","DOI":"10.1021\/acsami.5b07002","article-title":"Mercury Vapor Sorption and Amalgamation with a Thin Gold Film","volume":"7","author":"Hou","year":"2015","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tca.2013.05.041","article-title":"Thermodynamic properties of Au\u2013Hg binary solid solution","volume":"566","author":"Chudnenko","year":"2013","journal-title":"Thermochim. Acta"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8519","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.langmuir.5b01858","article-title":"Mercury Sorption and Desorption on Gold: A Comparative Analysis of Surface Acoustic Wave and Quartz Crystal Microbalance-Based Sensors","volume":"31","author":"Kabir","year":"2015","journal-title":"Langmuir"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Avossa, J., De Cesare, F., Papa, P., Zampetti, E., Bearzotti, A., Marelli, M., Pirrone, N., and Macagnano, A. (2020). Characteristics and Performances of a Nanostructured Material for Passive Samplers of Gaseous Hg. Sensors, 20.","DOI":"10.3390\/s20216021"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3657","DOI":"10.5194\/amt-14-3657-2021","article-title":"A field intercomparison of three passive air samplers for gaseous mercury in ambient air","volume":"14","author":"Naccarato","year":"2021","journal-title":"Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Horvat, M. (1996). Mercury Analysis and Speciation in Environmental Samples. Global and Regional Mercury Cycles: Sources, Fluxes and Mass Balances, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-009-1780-4_1"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5026","DOI":"10.1021\/jp0365413","article-title":"Absorption of Mercury in Gold Films and Its Further Desorption: Quantitative Morphological Study of the Surface Patterns","volume":"108","author":"Fialkowski","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Phys. Chem. B"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cartolano, M., Xia, B., Miriyev, A., and Lipson, H. (2019). Conductive Fabric Heaters for Heat-Activated Soft Actuators. Actuators, 8.","DOI":"10.3390\/act8010009"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"206","DOI":"10.1007\/BF01337937","article-title":"Verwendung von Schwingquarzen zur W\u00e4gung d\u00fcnner Schichten und zur Mikrow\u00e4gung","volume":"155","author":"Sauerbrey","year":"1959","journal-title":"Z. Phys."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1160","DOI":"10.1016\/j.snb.2016.09.097","article-title":"A study of a QCM sensor based on pentacene for the detection of BTX vapors in air","volume":"240","author":"Bearzotti","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sens. Actuators B Chem."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"462","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envres.2016.06.004","article-title":"Assessing occupational mercury exposures and behaviours of artisanal and small-scale gold miners in Burkina Faso using passive mercury vapour badges","volume":"152","author":"Black","year":"2017","journal-title":"Environ. Res."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/21\/24\/8255\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T07:44:53Z","timestamp":1760168693000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/21\/24\/8255"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,10]]},"references-count":31,"journal-issue":{"issue":"24","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]}},"alternative-id":["s21248255"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s21248255","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"1424-8220"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,10]]}}}