p-Toluenesulfonic acid doped vanadium pentoxide/polypyrrole film for highly sensitive hydrogen sensor

Properly assembled nanostructure of hybrid materials leads to better hydrogen gas sensing performance. In this study, a nove, and facile assembly approach was developed to construct a relatively quick and sensitive conductive polymer sensor for detecting trace quantities of hydrogen gas in a nitrogen atmosphere. Through chemical polymerization, hybrid thin films of vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) and polypyrrole (PPY) were fabricated to form the ordered structure of the composites. Also, the effect of p-toluenesulfonic acid, a dopant, on the structure and properties of conducting polymer and vanadium pentoxide composite was investigated. The dopant effect was proved to improve sensing performance via a hydrogen sensing experiment. These sensors are able to detect minor current changes induced by low-coordinated hydrogen exposure (5-250 ppm) interactions at room temperature and have quick response and recovery times of 42 s and 37 s, respectively.

Automated summary

Proper assembly of hybrid materials leads to a sensitive conductive polymer sensor for detecting trace quantities of hydrogen gas. Chemical polymerization was used to fabricate thin films of vanadium pentoxide and polypyrrole, which showed an ordered structure as composites. The addition of a dopant improved the sensing performance.