{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]],"date-time":"2026-05-07T11:42:33Z","timestamp":1778154153975,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,23]],"date-time":"2023-08-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1692748800000},"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>Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have recently received considerable attention for the analysis and monitoring of different biochemical processes in biological systems such as humans, plants, and microorganisms. The advantage of using VOCs to gather information about a specific process is that they can be extracted using different types of samples, even at low concentrations. Therefore, VOC levels represent the fingerprints of specific biochemical processes. The aim of this work was to develop a sensor based on a photoionization detector (PID) and a zeolite layer, used as an alternative analytic separation technique for the analysis of VOCs. The identification of VOCs occurred through the evaluation of the emissive profile during the thermal desorption phase, using a stainless-steel chamber for analysis. Emission profiles were evaluated using a double exponential mathematical model, which fit well if compared with the physical system, describing both the evaporation and diffusion processes. The results showed that the zeolite layer was selective for propionic acid molecules if compared to succinic acid molecules, showing linear behavior even at low concentrations. The process to define the optimal adsorption time between the propionic acid molecules was performed in the range of 5 to 60 min, followed by a thermal desorption process at 100 \u00b0C. An investigation of the relationship between the evaporation and diffusion rates showed that the maximum concentration of detected propionic acid molecules occurred in 15 min. Other analyses were performed to study how the concentration of VOCs depended on the desorption temperature and the volume of the analysis chamber. For this purpose, tests were performed using three analysis chambers with volumes of 25 \u00d7 10\u22126, 50 \u00d7 10\u22126, and 150 \u00d7 10\u22126 m3 at three different desorption temperatures of 20 \u00b0C, 50 \u00b0C, and 100 \u00b0C, respectively. The results demonstrated that the evaporation rate of the VOCs increased rapidly with an increasing temperature, while the diffusion rate remained almost constant and was characterized by a slow decay time. The diffusion ratio increased when using a chamber with a larger volume. These results highlight the capabilities of this alternative technique for VOC analysis, even for samples with low concentrations. The coupling of a zeolite layer and a PID improves the detection selectivity in portable devices, demonstrating the feasibility of extending its use to a wide range of new applications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s23177352","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,23]],"date-time":"2023-08-23T08:20:30Z","timestamp":1692778830000},"page":"7352","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Detection of Propionic Acids Trapped in Thin Zeolite Layer Using Thermal Desorption Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6812-5614","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Oliva","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Applications Technologies & Sensors (BATS) Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences, Magna Gr\u00e6cia University of Catanzaro, Viale Europa, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6163-7804","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonino S.","family":"Fiorillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Applications Technologies & Sensors (BATS) Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences, Magna Gr\u00e6cia University of Catanzaro, Viale Europa, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Syed Kamrul","family":"Islam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3391-1698","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Salvatore A.","family":"Pullano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Applications Technologies & Sensors (BATS) Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences, Magna Gr\u00e6cia University of Catanzaro, Viale Europa, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1088\/1752-7155\/8\/3\/034001","article-title":"The human volatilome: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath, skin emanations, urine, feces, and saliva","volume":"8","author":"Amann","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Breath Res."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"032001","DOI":"10.1088\/1752-7163\/ab1789","article-title":"Targeted breath analysis: Exogenous volatile organic compounds (EVOC) as metabolic pathway-specific probes","volume":"13","author":"Gaude","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Breath Res."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1209","DOI":"10.1016\/S0956-5663(03)00086-1","article-title":"Lung cancer identification by the analysis of breath by means of an array of non-selective gas sensors","volume":"18","author":"Macagnano","year":"2003","journal-title":"Biosens. Bioelectron."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chandrasekaran, M., Paramasivan, M., and Sahayarayan, J.J. (2023). Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds: An Alternative for Chemical Fertilizers in Sustainable Agriculture Development. Microorganisms, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms11010042"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14001","DOI":"10.1088\/1752-7155\/8\/1\/014001","article-title":"A review of the volatiles from the healthy human body","volume":"8","author":"Amann","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Breath Res."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1041","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsoil.2021.104118","article-title":"Beneficial effects of microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) in plants","volume":"168","author":"Poveda","year":"2021","journal-title":"Appl. Soil. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"151","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2015.00151","article-title":"Chemical diversity of microbial volatiles and their potential for plant growth and productivity","volume":"6","author":"Kanchiswamy","year":"2015","journal-title":"Front. Plant Sci."},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"1175","article-title":"Biological effects of propionic acid in humans; metabolism, potential applications, and underlying mechanisms","volume":"1801","author":"Peppelenbosch","year":"2010","journal-title":"Biochim. Biophys. Acta BBA Mol. Cell Biol. Lipids"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"034001","DOI":"10.1088\/1752-7163\/abf1d0","article-title":"A literature survey of all volatiles from healthy human breath and bodily fluids: The human volatilome","volume":"15","author":"Flynn","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Breath Res."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"036004","DOI":"10.1088\/1752-7155\/7\/3\/036004","article-title":"An investigation of volatile organic compounds from the saliva of healthy individuals using headspace-trap\/GC-MS","volume":"7","author":"Ratcliffe","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Breath Res."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"251","DOI":"10.1080\/10408347.2016.1266925","article-title":"Saliva\u2014Volatile Biomarkers and Profiles","volume":"47","author":"Milanowski","year":"2017","journal-title":"Crit. Rev. Anal. Chem."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"401","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2362.2010.02278.x","article-title":"Regulation of adipokine production in human adipose tissue by propionic acid","volume":"40","author":"Roelofsen","year":"2010","journal-title":"Eur. J. Clin. Investig."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4781","DOI":"10.1039\/C8CS00317C","article-title":"Synergy between nanomaterials and volatile organic compounds for non-invasive medical evaluation","volume":"47","author":"Broza","year":"2018","journal-title":"Chem. Soc. Rev."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11036","DOI":"10.1002\/anie.201500153","article-title":"Hybrid volatolomics and disease detection","volume":"54","author":"Broza","year":"2015","journal-title":"Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"S\u00e1nchez-Tirado, E., Ag\u00fc\u00ed, L., Gonz\u00e1lez-Cort\u00e9s, A., Campuzano, S., Y\u00e1\u00f1ez-Sede\u00f1o, P., and Pingarr\u00f3n, J.M. (2023). Electrochemical (Bio)Sensing Devices for Human-Microbiome-Related Biomarkers. Sensors, 23.","DOI":"10.3390\/s23020837"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"214","DOI":"10.2310\/6650.2002.33436","article-title":"Saliva analysis in the clinical setting: Revisiting an underused diagnostic tool","volume":"50","author":"Nagler","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Investig. Med."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"63","DOI":"10.1016\/j.micres.2018.01.002","article-title":"Microbial volatiles as plant growth inducers","volume":"208","author":"Fincheira","year":"2018","journal-title":"Microbiol. Res."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"270","DOI":"10.1099\/mic.0.032540-0","article-title":"Volatile antimicrobials from Muscodor crispans, a novel endophytic fungus","volume":"156","author":"Mitchell","year":"2010","journal-title":"Microbiology"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"027106","DOI":"10.1088\/1752-7155\/8\/2\/027106","article-title":"Identification of microorganisms based on headspace analysis of volatile organic compounds by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry","volume":"8","author":"Boots","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Breath Res."},{"key":"ref_20","first-page":"482","article-title":"A Novel, Low-Cost, Portable PID Sensor for Detection of VOC","volume":"1","author":"Agbroko","year":"2017","journal-title":"Proceedings"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Szulczy\u0144ski, B., and G\u0119bicki, J. (2017). Currently Commercially Available Chemical Sensors Employed for Detection of Volatile Organic Compounds in Outdoor and Indoor Air. Environments, 4.","DOI":"10.3390\/environments4010021"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rezende, G.C., Le Calv\u00e9, S., Brandner, J.J., and Newport, D. (2019). Micro Milled Microfluidic Photoionization Detector for Volatile Organic Compounds. Micromachines, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/mi10040228"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tyagi, A.K., and Ningthoujam, R.S. (2022). Handbook on Synthesis Strategies for Advanced Materials, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-981-16-1803-1"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"214","DOI":"10.1109\/TNANO.2014.2378892","article-title":"Absorption of Urea into zeolite layer integrated with microelectronic circuits","volume":"14","author":"Fiorillo","year":"2015","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Nanotechnol."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"370","DOI":"10.1049\/el.2017.4647","article-title":"Antireflection Properties of Composite Zeolite Gold Nanoparticles Film","volume":"54","author":"Pullano","year":"2018","journal-title":"Electron. Lett."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Stetsenko, M., Pullano, S.A., Margitych, T., Maksimenko, L., Hassan, A., Kryvyi, S., Hu, R., Huang, C., Ziniuk, R., and Golovynskyi, S. (2019). Antireflection Enhancement by Composite Nanoporous Zeolite 3A\u2013Carbon Thin Film. Nanomaterials, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/nano9111641"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pullano, S.A., Falcone, F., Critello, D.C., Bianco, M.G., Menniti, M., and Fiorillo, A.S. (2020). An Affordable Fabrication of a Zeolite-Based Capacitor for Gas Sensing. Sensors, 20.","DOI":"10.3390\/s20072143"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Oliva, G., Bianco, M.G., Fiorillo, A.S., and Pullano, S.A. (2022). Anti-Reflective Zeolite Coating for Implantable Bioelectronic Devices. Bioengineering, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/bioengineering9080404"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Oliva, G., and Fiorillo, A.S. (2022, January 22\u201324). Detection of Volatile Organic Compounds Adsorbed onto Zeolite Layers. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Medical Measurements and Applications (MeMeA), IEEE, Messina, Italy.","DOI":"10.1109\/MeMeA54994.2022.9856403"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"127","DOI":"10.3389\/fmats.2019.00127","article-title":"Synergetic of Pt nanoparticles and H-ZSM-5 zeolites for efficient CO2 activation: Role of interfacial sites in high activity","volume":"6","author":"Kashaboina","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front. Mater."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"074701","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4998296","article-title":"Periodic modeling of zeolite Ti-LTA","volume":"147","author":"Roldan","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14480","DOI":"10.1039\/C3RA48052F","article-title":"Zeolites and related sorbents with narrow pores for CO2 separation from flue gas","volume":"4","author":"Cheung","year":"2014","journal-title":"RSC Adv."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"147","DOI":"10.4236\/abb.2018.94012","article-title":"Metabiotics: The Functional Metabolic Signatures of Probiotics: Current State-of-Art and Future Research Priorities\u2014Metabiotics: Probiotics Effector Molecules","volume":"9","author":"Singh","year":"2018","journal-title":"Adv. Biosci. Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atmosenv.2015.04.021","article-title":"Temporal variation of VOC emission from solvent and water based wood stains","volume":"115","author":"Fracchiolla","year":"2015","journal-title":"Atmos. Environ."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"241","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600-0668.1997.00003.x","article-title":"Substrate effects on VOC emissions from a latex paint","volume":"7","author":"Chang","year":"1997","journal-title":"Indoor Air"}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/23\/17\/7352\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T20:40:47Z","timestamp":1760128847000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/23\/17\/7352"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,23]]},"references-count":35,"journal-issue":{"issue":"17","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,9]]}},"alternative-id":["s23177352"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s23177352","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,23]]}}}