Toward the development of sensors for lung cancer: The adsorption of 1-propanol on hydrophobic zeolites.

Abstract

A healthy breath is mainly composed of water, carbon dioxide, molecular nitrogen, and oxygen and it contains many species, in small quantities, which are related to the ambient atmosphere and the metabolism. The breath of a person affected by lung cancer presents a concentration of 1-propanol higher than usual. In this context, the development of specific sensors to detect 1-propanol from breath is of high interest. The amount of propanol usually detected on the breath is of few ppb; this small quantity is a handicap for a reliable diagnostic. This limitation can be overcome if the sensor is equipped with a pre-concentrator. Our studies aim to provide an efficient material playing this role. This will contribute to the development of reliable and easy to use lung cancer detectors. For this, we investigate the properties of a few hydrophobic porous materials (chabazite, silicalite-1, and dealuminated faujasite). Hydrophobic structures are used to avoid saturation of materials by the water present in the exhaled breath. Our experimental and simulation results suggest that silicalite -1 (MFI) is the most suitable structure to be used as a pre-concentrator.

• Authors: K Boukair, J M Salazar, G Weber, M Badawi, S Ouaskit, J-M Simon
• Journal: The Journal of chemical physics (J Chem Phys) Vol. 159 Issue 21 (Dec 07 2023) ISSN: 1089-7690 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 38059548 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: © 2023 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Chemical References

• 1-Propanol
• Zeolites
• Water

Topics

• Humans
• 1-Propanol
• Adsorption
• Lung Neoplasms (diagnosis)
• Zeolites (chemistry)
• Water (chemistry)