Ethylenediaminetetra Acetic Acid Functionalized Polyaniline Nanowires: Organic Field Effect Transistor for the Detection of Hg2+

Abstract

In recent decades, electronic sensors based on field effect transistors (FETs) have been broadly explored because of their high sensitivity and rapid detection. Among these sensors, FET sensors based on nanomaterials and nanowires have shown immense potential for the detection of a wide span of analytes. In the present investigation, polyaniline nanowires (PANI NWs) were synthesized by a two-step galvanostatic method and functionalized with EDTA (ethylenediaminetetra acetic acid). The organic field effect transistor (OFET) based on polyaniline nanowires (PANI NWs) functionalized with EDTA (ethylenediaminetetra acetic acid) was used for detection of Hg2+ ions. The detection ability of the OFET has been investigated by immersing a top-gate electrode in an aqueous solution with various Hg2+ ions concentrations. An increase in the drain current of the OFET was observed by the addition of incremental amounts of Hg2+ ions. The limit of detection (LOD) for this device is 0.1447 ppb with a sensitivity of 0.766 mA/ppb in a concentration window of 1 ppb to 15 ppb. The obtained relative standard deviation (RSD) for reproducibility and repeatability of the device was 7.898% and 14.22%, respectively.