how do carbon monoxide detectors detect carbon monoxide?
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Detectors have have what’s called an electrical eye. It’s basically an led that shines a beam and it hits a blob and it detects how much light is reflected. If it detects an abnormal amount, an alarm rings notifying you of Carbon Monoxide
Different sensors use different ways to detect CO.
Biomimetic sensor: a gel changes color when it absorbs carbon monoxide, and this color change triggers the alarm.
Metal oxide semiconductor: when the silica chip’s circuitry detects carbon monoxide, it lowers the electrical resistance, and this change triggers the alarm.
Electrochemical sensor: electrodes in a chemical solution sense changes in electrical currents when they come into contact with carbon monoxide, and this change triggers the alarm.
There are a few different types of detectors on the market. The cheapest ones have a pad covered with potassium disulfitopalladate. This chemical is normally yellow but will react with carbon monoxide and turn into metallic palladium which is black. A simple camera is set up to detect this color change and triggers the alarm if the pad changes color too fast.
There are also biometric sensors which use chemicals similar to hemoglobin which reacts with carbon monoxide and changes color. The advantage of this is that it detects the exact chemical reaction which make carbon monoxide poisonous to humans. There are also electrochemical ones which works in a similar way to a fuel cell or a battery using the carbon monoxide as part of a reaction to create an electrical current. This is far more accurate then other methods and use very little power so you typically find these detectors in professional equipment with a guage output.
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