Twistable and tailorable V2O5/PANI/GO nanocomposites textile for wearable ammonia sensing

Gaseous ammonia (NH3) under high concentration (e.g., larger than 25 ppm) is usually harmful to human organs. Instead, lower - concentration NH3 that is generated from human metabolism may serve as a biomarker for exhaled diagnosis of kidney disease. Ideally, wearable NH3 sensors integrated over cloths are highly desired for real-time monitoring. Here, twistable and tailorable nanocomposites (NCPs) textile has been developed for yielding wearable NH3 sensing, by which graphene oxide was firstly mixed with aniline monomer, and subsequently this mixture was in-situ polymerized by vanadium pentoxide to obtain a ternary NCPs of vanadium oxide, polyaniline and graphene oxide (V2O5/PANI/GO NCPs). Benefiting from the incorporation of PANI, V(2)O(5 )and GO, the V2O5/PANI/GO NCPs textile shows enhanced response (R-g/R-a-1 = 31.2 +/- 1.8% @10 ppm NH3, room temperature), high stability that maintains 91.5% response after 56 days and excellent interfering selectivity. Remarkably, the V2O5/PANI/GO NCPs textile displays excellent twistability and tailorability. This strategy to V2O5/PANI/GO NCPs textile might be extended to nanosensing materials that could be integrated onto other textiles.

Automated summary

High concentration of gaseous ammonia is harmful to human organs, but low-concentration ammonia generated from human metabolism can be used as a biomarker for diagnosing kidney disease through exhaled breath. Wearable ammonia sensors integrated into clothing for real-time monitoring are highly desired. The development of twistable and tailorable nanocomposites textile for NH3 sensing shows enhanced response, high stability, and excellent interfering selectivity.