Aminated reduced graphene oxide-carbon nanotube composite gas sensors for ammonia recognition

Abstract

Composites based on carbon nanomaterials exhibit many advantageous properties for gas sensing, such as high and fast response, room-temperature operation, and tailoring sensitivity by energy level engineering. However, only the first attempts to employ such chemosensors for gas-sensing applications have been made. In this work, an on-chip multisensor array of carboxylated carbon nanotubes (CNT), aminated reduced graphene oxide (rGO-Am), and CNT/rGO-Am nanocomposite was fabricated using a simple and low-cost spray deposition method. The CNT/rGO-Am sensor demonstrated a fast and high response to NH3 in dry air at low (25 ppm) and high (400 ppm) concentrations of 70 and 115 %, respectively. The response to NH3 in humid air increased and reached 160 % at 400 ppm. The chemosensor exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity toward ammonia with a low detection limit estimated to be below 0.2 ppb. Linear discriminant analysis of the sensor responses to different concentrations of NH3, dry and humid air revealed better discrimination when CNT/rGO-Am composites were used in combination with CNT and rGO-Am sensors in an array. This study demonstrates that composite sensors with junctions between carbon nanomaterials have great potential for practical applications in fast and selective gas detection at room temperature and different humidity.