Experimental Characterization of Impact of Paint-Like Solvent Backgrounds on Indoor Airborne Molecular Communication

Zhu K, Carkit-Yilmaz S, Heinlein B, Pham YL, Jamali V, Schober R, Loos H, Büttner A (2026)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2026

Journal

Pages Range: 952 - 957

DOI: 10.1109/TMBMC.2026.3720576

Abstract

Airborne molecular communication (AMC) systems are often subjected to persistent interfering volatile organic compounds (VOCs) originating from paints and coated surfaces in indoor environments. These background chemicals affect typical non-specific sensors such as metal oxide (MOX) sensor outputs together with the actively released signaling molecules, because of cross-sensitivity, creating drifting sensor-output base-lines, and memory-dependent effects that have not yet been systematically considered in experimental AMC studies. This study experimentally investigates how a common paint solvent (n-butyl acetate) and alcohol signaling pulses (ethanol) jointly affect an AMC system with MOX sensors. Using a static chamber and a controlled-airflow setup, we examine ethanol pulses in clean air, solvent backgrounds, superimposed signal-background conditions, and different exposure sequences. The measurements show that paint-related VOCs cause slowly varying baseline shifts that reduce ethanol pulse contrast, slow down recovery, and introduce exposure sequence dependent responses. This letter provides an experimental characterization of solvent-background interference and memory effects in MOX sensor-based AMC receivers.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Technische Universität Darmstadt Germany (DE) Fraunhofer-Institut für Verfahrenstechnik und Verpackung (IVV) Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Zhu, K., Carkit-Yilmaz, S., Heinlein, B., Pham, Y.L., Jamali, V., Schober, R.,... Büttner, A. (2026). Experimental Characterization of Impact of Paint-Like Solvent Backgrounds on Indoor Airborne Molecular Communication. IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications, 952 - 957. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMBMC.2026.3720576

MLA:

Zhu, Kaikai, et al. "Experimental Characterization of Impact of Paint-Like Solvent Backgrounds on Indoor Airborne Molecular Communication." IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications (2026): 952 - 957.

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