A hybrid material consisting of bulk-reduced TiO2, graphene oxide and polyaniline for resistance based sensing of gaseous ammonia at room temperature

Abstract

A hybrid material consisting of bulk-reduced TiO2, graphene oxide (GO) and polyaniline (PANI) was fabricated by decorating TiO2 with GO, followed by in-situ oxidative chemical polymerization of aniline. The TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) with thermally stable bulk reduction states were initially prepared from porous amorphous titanium as the precursor. The TiO2 NPs and GO were chemically conjugated to each other via amide bonds to improve the stability of the composite. The sensor, if operated in the conductivity mode, exhibits strong signal changes, and fast response and recovery times (of 32 and 17 s, respectively) to gaseous ammonia even at room temperature. Its response range extends from 5 to 300 ppm, and the lower detection limit is 5 ppm. The sensor is fairly selective and not interfered by gases such as CO, CH4, and trimethylamine, and by vapors of methanol and ethanol. It also displays good temporal stability. This is attributed to the bulk-reduced state of TiO2, the presence of oxygen functional groups on GO, and the strong adsorption and rapid diffusion of ammonia. The results also imply the presence of a synergetic effect between TiO2 and GO/PANI, which is probably beneficial for the potential application of the resulting composite as a gas sensor.