EVAL-CN0357-ARDZ: Electrochemical Gas Detection, Arduino Compatible

The circuit shown on EVAL-CN0357-ARDZ is a single-supply, low noise, portable gas detector, using an electrochemical sensor. The Alphasense CO-AX carbon monoxide sensor is used in this example.

Electrochemical sensors offer several advantages for instruments that detect or measure the concentration of many toxic gases. Most sensors are gas specific and have usable resolutions under one part per million (ppm) of gas concentration.

The circuit uses the ADA4528-2, dual auto zero amplifier, which has a maximum offset voltage of 2.5 µV at room temperature and 5.6 µV/Square Root(Hz) of voltage noise density. In addition, the AD5270-20 programmable rheostat is used rather than a fixed transimpedance resistor, allowing for rapid prototyping of different gas sensor systems, without changing the bill of materials.

The ADR3412 precision, low noise, micropower reference establishes the 1.2 V common-mode, pseudo ground reference voltage with 0.1% accuracy and 8 ppm/°C drift.

This board is designed to interface through the EVAL-ADICUP360 which is an Arduino and PMOD compatible form factor development board. For applications where measuring fractions of ppm gas concentration is important, using the ADA4528-2 and the ADR3412 makes the circuit performance suitable for interfacing with a 16-bit ADC, such as the AD7790.?