Dr. Viktor Bezugly and Dr. Birte Sönnichsen founded SmartNanotubes Technologies in summer 2020 and received support from the Technologiegründerfond Sachsen, TU Dresden Aktiengesellschaft and a private investor. The start-up has developed an odor sensor chip based on nanomaterials, the 'Smell Detector'. According to the company, this world's first multi-channel gas detector chip is significantly more sensitive, smaller and more energy-efficient than currently available systems. "With this innovative sensor technology, we are more than a nose ahead in the market. Together with our customers, we will incorporate this know-how into their products," explains Arthur Rönisch, Managing Director and CIO of Turck duotec.

Turck duotec is taking over the industrialization of the e-Nose developed by SmartNanotubes, which will be available from the 4th quarter of 2021. This will make it possible for the first time to analyze a large number of odors or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with a very small chip that can be produced cost-effectively in large quantities. "The digital nose is an extraordinary technology for the future, as its ability to detect many times more gases simultaneously is much closer to the human nose than the solutions already on the market. This makes groundbreaking applications conceivable, for example to diagnose serious illnesses such as cancer at an early stage based on a person's breath," explains Philipp Mirliauntas, Managing Director and CSO of Turkc duotec.

Dr. Viktor Bezugly, CEO and Co-Founder of SmartNanotubes Technologies, adds: "Odor is an important quality feature, for example in the area of food production. But it also plays a major role in hazard prevention and in the health sector". The nanomaterials produced by SmartNanotubes Technologies are highly sensitive and come very close to the human nose's sense of smell. The developed Smell Detector detects gases with a resolution in the ppb range and is 100 times more sensitive than currently available technologies. In addition, the Smell Detector uses artificial intelligence (AI) to learn and recognize different odor patterns. The Smell Detector Developer Kit is Raspberry Pi and Arduino compatible and can be integrated into existing devices. It has also already been implemented in a robot. The gas detector chip can also be adapted for customer-specific applications and set to specific odor/gas combinations.