Electrochemical gas sensor

Abstract

The present invention pertains to an electrochemical gas sensor, which has an electrode system for the measurement and is directly coupled with the environment via a gas inlet. To avoid fault liability and incorrect measurements in the case of rapid changes in atmospheric humidity, a moisture reservoir is provided according to the present invention at the gas inlet, and the moisture reservoir is designed to reversibly exchange moisture with the gas atmosphere surrounding it, following the relative humidity of the gas atmosphere, in order to buffer or damp variations in the relative humidity of the gas atmosphere acting on the electrode system. The moisture reservoir may have, e.g., a container body, whose walls have moisture-permeable areas, which face the gas atmosphere in the gas sample volume or the gas diffusing into it, and in which hygroscopic substances are contained. For example, salt solutions, highly concentrated acids or silica gel, which extract moisture from the environment when the humidity of the ambient air increases and release the moisture when the humidity of the ambient air decreases, may be contained in the container body.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.