MOVOS · Project

Portable Gas Sensors That Detect Spoilage and Toxic Vapors Using Smart Coatings

manufacturingTestedTRL 5

Imagine a tiny sponge where every pore is custom-shaped to catch only the exact gas molecule you care about — that's what metal-organic frameworks do. Researchers at KU Leuven figured out how to coat sensor chips with these smart sponges using a gentle vapor process, like fogging a mirror but way more precise. They already proved the concept in the lab and then built a portable device that can sniff out specific gases — like hexanal, which tells you food is going bad — even when humidity would normally confuse other sensors. The goal was to take this from a lab curiosity to something companies could actually evaluate and use.

By the numbers

EUR 100,000

EU contribution for valorization activities

University partner (KU Leuven, Belgium)

Total project deliverables

M12

Portable demonstrator delivery milestone

The business problem

What needed solving

Many industries need to detect specific volatile organic compounds — from hexanal signaling food spoilage to harmful VOCs in buildings — but current sensors are either too bulky, too expensive, or too easily confused by humidity. Companies in food logistics, facility management, and manufacturing lack affordable, selective, portable gas detection that works reliably in real-world conditions where moisture is always present.

The solution

What was built

The project delivered a portable demonstrator device that detects specific VOCs (e.g., hexanal) even in humid conditions, using sensor chips coated with tunable nanoporous thin films via vapor deposition. A total of 2 deliverables were completed, including the demonstrator at month 12.

Audience

Who needs this

Food packaging companies monitoring product freshness in transitBuilding management firms tracking indoor air quality and VOC levelsSemiconductor manufacturers seeking advanced low-k insulator coatingsIndustrial hygiene and workplace safety equipment makersCold-chain logistics providers needing spoilage detection at the pallet level

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Food safety and packaging

mid-size

Target: Food packaging companies and cold-chain logistics providers

If you are a food packaging or logistics company dealing with spoilage losses and unreliable freshness indicators — this project developed a portable demonstrator that detects hexanal, a key marker of food degradation, even in the presence of moisture. The sensor works where humidity normally blinds competing technologies. With only 1 year of focused valorization work and a working portable device delivered at M12, this is ready for pilot evaluation in real packaging or warehouse environments.

Indoor air quality and environmental monitoring

any

Target: Building management and workplace safety companies

If you are a facility management or workplace safety company struggling to detect volatile organic compounds accurately in humid indoor environments — this project built gas sensors based on tunable nanoporous coatings that selectively target specific VOCs. The portable demonstrator delivered at M12 proves the concept works outside the lab. For companies dealing with sick-building complaints or regulatory VOC limits, this offers a path to cheaper, more selective continuous monitoring.

Semiconductor and microelectronics

enterprise

Target: Chip fabrication companies and electronic materials suppliers

If you are a microelectronics manufacturer looking for better insulator materials between chip layers — this project's vapor-phase coating technology also produces low-k insulator films suitable for next-generation chip architectures. The mild deposition conditions developed at KU Leuven mean less thermal damage to delicate chip structures. With 1 university partner focused purely on technology readiness, the IP is concentrated and licensing could be straightforward.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to license or co-develop this sensor technology?

The project had a EUR 100,000 EU contribution and was run by a single university (KU Leuven). Since this was a valorization project specifically aimed at building market and technical knowledge through value chain interaction, the team is actively looking for commercial partners. Licensing terms would be negotiated directly with KU Leuven's technology transfer office.

Can this scale to industrial production volumes?

The core coating process uses vapor-phase deposition, which is already a standard technique in semiconductor manufacturing. This means scaling to industrial volumes should be compatible with existing fab infrastructure. However, the current demonstrator was built at lab-to-portable scale, so a pilot production run would be the logical next step.

Who owns the intellectual property?

The IP sits with KU Leuven as the sole consortium partner. This simplifies licensing since there is only 1 partner in 1 country — no multi-party IP negotiations needed. The technology builds on earlier FET Open SPRINT project results, so the full IP chain should be reviewed.

Does this meet regulatory requirements for food safety or air quality monitoring?

Based on available project data, regulatory certification was not part of the project scope. The demonstrator detects hexanal in the presence of moisture, which is relevant for food safety standards, but formal certification (e.g., CE marking, FDA compliance) would need to be pursued separately by a commercialization partner.

How quickly could we integrate this into existing sensor systems?

The portable demonstrator was delivered at M12, showing the technology can work outside a fixed lab setup. The vapor-phase deposition process is compatible with standard microelectronics fabrication. Integration timelines would depend on your specific platform, but the coating technology is designed to work on existing sensor substrates.

What gives this an edge over existing VOC sensors?

The key differentiator is selectivity — the nanoporous coatings can be tuned to target specific gas molecules while ignoring others. The demonstrator specifically proved detection of hexanal in the presence of moisture, which is a known weakness of many commercial VOC sensors. This tunability means one platform can be adapted for different target gases.

Consortium

Who built it

This is a single-partner project run entirely by KU Leuven, a top-tier Belgian research university. With 0 industry partners and 0% industry ratio, the technology was developed in an academic setting without direct commercial input during the project itself. However, the MOVOS project was specifically a valorization effort — meaning the whole point was to bridge the gap between lab results and market needs through value chain interaction. For a business considering this technology, the upside is clean IP ownership with 1 partner to negotiate with; the downside is that no industrial validation or manufacturing partner has been involved yet. A company stepping in now would be an early mover with strong negotiating position.

KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVENCoordinator · BE

How to reach the team

KU Leuven technology transfer office (LRD) handles licensing. The Ameloot research group leads this work.

Order a report on this consortium See KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

SciTransfer can broker an introduction to the KU Leuven team, prepare a technology brief tailored to your application, and help structure a pilot or licensing discussion.

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