Water-Selective Nanostructured Dehumidifiers for Molecular Sensing Spaces

Humidity and moisture effects, frequently called water poisoning, in surroundings are inevitable for various molecular sensing devices, strongly affecting their sensing characteristics. Here, we demonstrate a water-selective nanostructured dehumidifier composed of ZnO/TiO2/CaCl2 core-shell heterostructured nanowires for molecular sensing spaces. The fabricated nanostructured dehumidifier is highly water-selective without detrimental adsorptions of various volatile organic compound molecules and can be repeatedly operated. The thermally controllable and reversible dehydration process of CaCl2·nH2O thin nanolayers on hydrophilic ZnO/TiO2 nanowire surfaces plays a vital role in such water-selective and repeatable dehumidifying operations. Furthermore, the limitation of detection for sensing acetone and nonanal molecules in the presence of moisture (relative humidity ∼ 90%) was improved more than 20 times using nanocomposite sensors by operating the developed nanostructured dehumidifier. Thus, the proposed water-selective nanostructured dehumidifier offers a rational strategy and platform to overcome water poisoning issues for various molecular and gas sensors.