Ability of discrimination of breath from smoker and non-smoker volunteers by using an electronic nose based on WO3 nanowires and SnO2 sensors

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emanating from human breath could be used as non-invasive biomarkers of specific health states. Electronic nose technology has been emerged as new method to analyze human breath and produce specific VOCs patterns. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of two sensor arrays to differentiate smoker's and non-smoker's breath. The first sensor array contains six MQ sensors based on SnO
2
, while the second one comprised six interdigitated sensors based on metal-functionalized WO
3
nanowires prepared by aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD). Breath samples were collected in duplicate from 32 volunteers. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs) show that WO
3
sensor array gives further accuracy results than SnO
2
sensors regarding the discrimination among three clusters related to smokers, non-smokers and room air samples. This study provides more evidence that device based on WO
3
could be useful tool for breath pattern screening.