Nanofibrous polyaniline thin film prepared by plasma-induced polymerization technique for detection of NO2 gas

A nanofibrous polyaniline (PANI) thin film was fabricated using plasma-induced polymerization method and explored its application in the fabrication of NO2 gas sensor. The effects of substrate position, pressure, and the number of plasma pulses on the PANI film growth rate were monitored and an optimum condition for the PANI thin film preparation was established. The resulting PANI film was characterized with UV-visible spectrophotometer, FTIR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The PANI thin film possessed nanofibers with a diameter ranging from 15 to 20 nm. The NO2 gas sensing behavior was studied by measuring the change in electrical conductivity of PANI film with respect to NO2 gas concentration and exposure time. The optimized sensor exhibited a sensitivity factor of 206 with a response time of 23 sec. The NO2 gas sensor using nanofibrous PANI thin film as sensing probe showed a linear current response to the NO2 gas concentration in the range of 10-100 ppm. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.