In this work, we have developed a new gas-sensing transduction based on the propagation of microwave inside a sensitive material to detect atmospheric pollutants at room temperature. First, we present a short overview of the main gas-sensing transduction in the litterature. These techniques operate in frequency ranges different from microwaves. The dielectric permittivity is the main physical parameter in the microwave transduction. The principle is based on the excitation of a sensitive material by a microwave electromagnetic field in a propagative structure. The reflected wave is specific to the excitation's frequency. It depends on the interaction between the sensitive material and the pollutant gas and also on the geometry of the sensor. However, the variation of the conductivity of the sensitive material also changes the transmission of the wave through the microwave device. Inorganic materials (tin and titanium oxides) are used to validate the methods of transduction. Different geometries of sensor are studied with electromagnetic modeling and experimental testing. The sensitive material is used in compressed powders and thin films, in particular with a molecular material (cobalt phthalocyanine). This work improves the microwave transduction knowledge by the sensor geometries. The experimental tests in argon flux conduct to obtain a resolution better than 100 ppm. Few results are presented in air flux.
