Flexible room temperature ammonia gas sensor based on in suit polymerized PANI/PVDF porous composite film

Abstract

Flexible room temperature sub-ppm ammonia (NH3) gas-sensing films based on polyaniline (PANI) nanoparticles were successfully developed on porous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) substrate by in suit chemical oxidative polymerization method. The fabricated PANI/PVDF film sensor, which was synthesized with 0.1 mol/L aniline, possesses the best response value of 24.5% and 2.6% to 1 ppm and 0.1 ppm NH3 at room temperature, respectively. Furthermore, the PANI/PVDF film sensor shows excellent selectivity towards NH3 compared with methanol, ethanol, acetone, toluene, and formaldehyde at room temperature. The improved sensing performance is related to the porous PVDF nanostructure and synergetic effects of PVDF and PANI. Finally, the effect of working temperature and relative humidity on the sensing properties of the PANI/PVDF thin film sensor was also discussed and analyzed. The results show the potential application of the flexible PANI/PVDF film sensor for monitoring sub-ppm NH3 gas under ambient conditions.