Low-cost colorimetric sensor for the quantitative detection of gaseous hydrogen sulfide

A simple, rapid and low-cost method for differentiating a wide range of concentrations of gaseous hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is described. A large dynamic range (50 ppb to 50 ppm) was successfully classified at ambient temperature using a colorimetric sensor array comprised of chemoresponsive dyes coupled to a commercially available 8-bit flatbed scanner. Principle component analysis of the composite magnitude and kinetics of color change for the array of dye spots over the entire dynamic range resulted in 100% classification. This was achieved by including chemoresponsive dyes which reacted specifically with H₂S at different detection thresholds.