Flexible CO2 Sensor Architecture with Selective Nitrogen Functionalities by One-Step Laser-Induced Conversion of Versatile Organic Ink

Nitrogen-containing carbons (NC) are a class of sustainable materials for selective CO2 adsorption. A versatile concept is introduced to fabricate flexible NC-based sensor architectures for room-temperature sensing of CO2 in a one-step laser conversion of primary films cast from abundant precursors. By the unidirectional energy impact in conjunction with depth-dependent attenuation of the laser beam, a layered sensor heterostructure with a porous transducer and active sensor layer is formed. Comprehensive microscopic and spectroscopic cross-sectional analyses confirm the preservation of the high content of imidazolic nitrogen in the sensor. The performance is optimized in terms of material morphology, chemical composition, and surface chemistry to achieve a linear relative resistive response of up to Delta R/R-0 = -14.3% (10% of CO2). Thermodynamic analysis yields Delta H-ads values of -35.6 and 34.1 kJ center dot mol(-1) for H2O and CO2, respectively. The sensor is operable even in humid environments (e.g., increment R/R-0,R-RH = 80% = 0.53%) and shows good performance upon strong mechanical deformation.

Automated summary

This study introduces a novel nitrogen-containing carbon-based sensor architecture for room-temperature CO2 sensing. The sensor structure includes a porous transducer and an active sensor layer, and achieves a linear relative resistive response through optimization of material morphology, chemical composition, and surface chemistry. The sensor also shows good performance in humid environments and under strong mechanical deformation.