High-sensitivity QCM humidity sensor based on chitosan/carboxymethylated multiwalled carbon nanotubes composite for non-contact respiratory monitoring

Respiratory humidity is an important indicator that can reflect respiratory disorders and is easily accessible in daily life, thus attracting attention in non-contact home respiratory monitoring systems. In this work, a high-sensitivity quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) humidity sensor based on a chitosan/carboxymethylated multiwalled carbon nanotubes composite coating is developed with a response time of 36 s and a recovery time of 38 s. The humidity variations from 11 to 97 % can be detected while the wet hysteresis is 0.95 % RH. The sensor also exhibits good repeatability and stability. The physicochemical characterizations of the materials reveal the mechanism of the rapid humidity response, i.e., compared to the physically blended CS with MWCNT, the crosslinking CS-MWCNT formed the new intercalation by stronger hydrogen and amide bonding, which leads to the homogeneous coverage of CS on MWCNT, exposing more active sites and facilitating the binding rate of water molecules. Combined with respiration monitoring, the sensor is able to accurately monitor human respiration rate and depth in real time, effectively predicting and differentiating between different types of obstructive sleep apnea syndromes, providing a fast and reliable solution for daily health monitoring.