Visual Point-Of-Care Diabetic Breath Diagnosis With Integration of Dye/Mof on Permeable Hydrophilic Polypropylene Fabric Publisher



F Rastgoo FARHAD ; F Amourizi FERESHTEH ; K Dashtian KHEIBAR ; R Zaredorabei ROUHOLAH ; M Mahdavic MOHAMMAD ; M Noroozifar MEISSAM ; K Kerman KAGAN
Source: Microchemical Journal Published:2025

Abstract

Artificial breath sensors have recently emerged as promising devices for noninvasive health diagnostics, while visually readable sensors bring specific advantages given simplicity, cost, and commercialization perspectives. Herein, this work represents advanced colorimetric sensing composites that have been designed for the detection of two critical biomarkers of diabetes: acetone and ammonia. The sensing materials involve thymol blue and anthocyanin dyes and adsorbed within a cobalt-based metal-organic framework, immobilized on hydrophilic nonwoven polypropylene. The sensors developed in this work exhibit excellent sensitivity, selectivity, and response time. After a short-time exposure of 2 min, the limits of detections (LODs) of acetone and ammonia were estimated to be 2.1 ppm and 2.4 ppm, respectively, while the limit of quantifications (LOQs) were 6.9 ppm and 8.01 ppm, respectively. A linear detection range was observed within 9.3–187.38 ppm for acetone and 7.5–377.7 ppm for ammonia. The low RSDs of 2.7 % and 3.1 % for acetone and 4.5 % and 4.26 % for ammonia, respectively, confirmed repeatability and reproducibility. The sensor works quite well at 90 % humidity without tremendous influence on the final results. These results indicate the remarkable stability and extensibility of the proposed sensing system. It has, therefore, established the practical viability of the colorimetric sensor in detecting even acetone and ammonia in exhaled breaths, both in lab rats and humans, to further its reputation as a valid tool in monitoring diabetes. Besides, fitting the sensor into a facemask underlines the potential of a cost-effective, user-friendly, eye-readable point of care diagnostic device. The innovation opens the way for broad applications in real time health monitoring by replacing the conventional technique with a more convenient one and decreasing the barriers. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.