Surface acoustic wave (SAW) gas/vapor sensor is widely used in the fields of environmental monitoring

health care and chemical detection to detect toxic and hazardous gases/vapors on-site and real-time for its advantages of high sensitivity

good selectivity

fast response

small size and easy to carry

etc. The characteristics of the sensitive coating materials is the key factor that determine the performance of SAW gas/vapor sensor

such as sensitivity

selectivity

response time and life. In this paper

the principle of SAW sensor response and the requirements for sensitive coating materials were briefly introduced firstly. Then the research progress of the organic polymer coating materials used in SAW sensors was described in detail and a simple prediction for the research trends was made at last.