Dealuminated Zeolite Y/SnO2 Nanoparticle Hybrid Sensors for Detecting Trace Levels of Propanol as a Lung Cancer Biomarker

Detection of lung cancer biomarkers (LCBs) from exhaled breath in the early stage can lower lung cancer mortality. We report a highly sensitive dealuminated zeolite Y (DaY)/SnO₂ nanoparticle (NP)-based sensor for the detection of LCBs at low concentrations. The sensing performances were tested with 200 ppb propanol, formaldehyde, and toluene LCBs at different operating temperatures from 175 to 300 °C. The sensor was found to be highly efficient for propanol detection with a remarkable relative response of ∼96 ± 2% and a fast response time of ∼10 ± 1 s at 275 °C. The sensor stability was evaluated with multiple loading–deloading cycles with concentrations ranging from 70 to 200 ppb propanol. The DaY/SnO₂ NP sensor was stable for multiple detection cycles of LCBs and exhibited a high relative response at 225 °C for concentrations as low as 70 ppb propanol. The activation energy was calculated for all LCBs, and the lowest was measured for propanol at 56.7 kJ/mol. The DaY zeolite plays the role of an excellent catalyst in the dehydration of propanol molecules into propene. A sensing mechanism was also proposed for the DaY/SnO₂ NP sensor based on the catalytic behavior of the zeolite DaY as well as the role of the activation energy of LCBs on the SnO₂ NP surface.