ZnO Intercalated PVA-PEDOT:PSS Composite Nanofiber for Detection of Ammonia Gases
Authors: Nuftolla Aidarbek , Rakhmanova Aizhan , Soltabayev Baktiyar , Mentbayeva Almagul 
Published: September 2023

Keywords: Ammonia, Electrospinning, and Zinc Oxide
The matter of air pollution has dramatically risen the worldwide concern on detecting of hazardous gases present in the atmosphere because they are highly detrimental to human health [4,5]. Additionally, the detection and monitoring of such harmful gases is necessary for process control in the industry as well as the general safety of the environment. Zinc oxide (ZnO) is an n-type semiconductor with a wide direct bandgap width (3.37 eV), high excitation binding energy (60meV), high electron mobility, thermal stability, and excellent electrical properties [1]. Other promising materials for gas-sensing applications encompass single elements, silicon and tellurium-based materials and organic semiconductors. The sensing materials that are of intense research interest are conducting polymers such as polyaniline (PANI), polypyrrole (PPy) and poly(3,4-thylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) used in the fabrication of polymer-based gas sensors [2]. Its capability to work at low operating temperatures while maintaining high sensitivity leads to the synergistic effect when in combination with metal oxides to produce high-performance gas sensors. They are very appealing in terms of energy saving as they do not need an additional source of heat, consequently reducing the operating cost, simplifying the fabrication process, and extending the lifespan of the device [3]. In this work, ZnO intercalated PVA-PEDOT:PSS composite nanofiber as a sensing layer was prepared by electrospinning method. This material was characterized both morphologically and structurally by X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The results from TEM and SEM show well distribution of ZnO particles in the polymer matrix. The gas measurement results reveal that the fabricated ZnO loaded PVA-PEDOT:PSS composite sensor exhibits excellent gas response (63%) to ammonia gas in 100 ppm gas concentration at 120 °C.

Acknowledgment

This research was supported by the research grant 021220CRP0122 “Development of highly sensitive MOS based nano-film gas sensors” from Nazarbayev University.

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