Leveraging electronic interactions in poly (O-toluidine)/ cadmium sulfide nanocomposite for improved nitrogen dioxide sensing

Abstract

Detecting nitrogen dioxide (NO2) at room temperature remains challenging for current gas sensor technologies. This study aims to address these limitations by developing chemiresistive sensors based on poly (O-toluidine) (POT)/Cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanocomposites. The combination of POT and CdS nanoparticles creates a specialized architecture to enable swift and sensitive NO2 detection at room temperature. Gas sensing evaluations demonstrated significant performance enhancements including 104/73 s response/recovery times and 73% sensitivity at 60 ppm NO2. The sensors also showed repeatability over cycles and stability over 60 days. Comparative analysis confirmed that integrating POT with CdS amplifies sensitivity and reduces response times compared to using POT alone. This establishes a materials-by-design strategy to surpass existing gas sensing limitations.