Detection and determination of harmful gases in confined spaces for the Internet of Things based on cataluminescence sensor

•The CTL sensor instrument could response to ethyl ether under 180 °C, which was lower than most of the reported CTL reaction temperatures.•The linear detection range was wide, ranging from 10 ppm to 5800 ppm (R = 0.9978, n = 7), and the detection limit was also low (4.3 ppm).•The CTL sensor showed the response time of 4 s and recovery time of 8 s, which was relatively short.•The pattern recognition results showed the analytes could be classified clearly. The low reaction temperature, excellent sensitivity, selectivity, stability and recognition performance indicated this CTL sensor was ideal for gas contaminants detection in confined spaces for the Internet of Things.