Expanding the Capabilities of the JPL Electronic Nose for an International Space Station Technology Demonstration

An array-based sensing system based on polymer-carbon composite conductometric sensors is under development at JPL for use as an environmental monitor in the International Space Station. Sulfur dioxide has been added to the analyte set for this phase of development. Using molecular modeling techniques, the interaction energy between SO₂ and polymer functional groups has been calculated, and polymers selected as potential SO₂ sensors. Experiment has validated the model and two selected polymers have been shown to be promising materials for SO₂ detection.