Ion Beam Modified Conducting Polymer Composites: Material for Gas Sensing
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0889-W02-07.1
Ion Beam Modified Conducting Polymer Composites: Material for Gas Sensing
Abstract: A polyaniline based conducting composite was prepared by oxidative polymerisation of aniline in presence of polyvinylchloride (PVC) matrix. The coherent free standing thin films of the composite were prepared by solution casting method. The PVC-polyaniline composite (90:10) of thickness 40 µm was irradiated with 90 MeV C5+ ions at different ion fluence ranging 5x 1011-5x 1013 ions/cm2. The changes in resistance of pristine and irradiated composite in presence of ammonia gas were studied. A general decrease in surface resistance is observed upon irradiation. The sensitivity, response time and recovery time were studied as a function of ion fluence on exposing the sensor material to ammonia gas at ambient condition. It is observed that irradiated composite films are more sensitive and fast in response to ammonia gas. The preliminary results observed are encouraging.
Keywords: Conducing polymer composites, Ammonia gas sensors, swift heavy ions.
0889-W02-07.2
Introduction: Conducting polymers have attracted considerable interest due to their various applications in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) [1], lithography [2], electrode material [3], electromagnetic shielding [4] and sensing [56]. Sensors made from conducting polymers as varied as polypyrrole, polyhexylthiophene, polymethylthiophene, polyethylene and polyaniline have been investigated [7-11] to study their potential application in detecting gases like nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia, and hydrogen besides moisture and a number of organic volatile compounds. The conducting polymer polyaniline is known for its ease in synthesis and environmental stability. Its redox behaviour (doped/dedoped) makes it a potential candidate for chemical sensing. However, its poor solubility and processability limits its applications. To overcome these problems various attempts have been made by blending polyaniline with insulating polymers having good mechanical strength [6]. The composites of polyaniline have been prepared successfully by chemical [12] and electrochemical [13] polymerisation in presence of insulating matrix. The modification of polymeric material by irradiation with swift heavy ions [14-15] has gained considerable interest in the last two decades due to easy access to heavy ion accelerators. Studies pertaining to the study of the effect of gamma and electron irradiation [16] and swift heavy ion [18] on the electrical properties of polyvinyl chloride-polyaniline (PVC-PANI) blends have been reported in literature. On irradiation with swift heavy ions, a dramatic change in the electrical properties of polyaniline composites was observed [17]. Swift heavy ion irradiated polyvinylchloride-polyethylenterephthalate (PVC-PET) composites have been tested for hydrogen gas sensitivity [18]. In the present study we report the method for the preparation of polyvinylchloride- polyaniline composite free standing films and the effect of swift heavy ions on the se
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