Selective Detection of Aromatic Compounds with a Re-Designed Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor System Using a Short Packed Column

A self-developed and newly re-designed chemical SAW sensor system composed of four polymer-coated and four differently modified nano-diamond-coated SAW sensors was applied to measure aromatic compounds in gasoline in a low-cost, fast, and easy way. An additional short packed column at the system inlet improve the selectivity for various possible fuel applications. The column allows the direct sampling of liquid fuels and pre-separates the different components in groups (aromatic and aliphatic compounds) from a fuel sample. Since the sensors employed show linearity towards concentration, an easy quantification of single fuel components was possible even within the group of aromatic compounds.