Self-assembled core-shell structured organic nanofibers fabricated by single-nozzle electrospinning for highly sensitive ammonia sensors

Electrospinning is a unique method to prepare 1-dimentional nanofiber for large-scale manufacturing. Here in, we demonstrated chemical sensors based on the semiconducting nanofibers with core-shell structure by simple single-nozzle electrospinning with the spontaneous phase separation. The core-shell structure nanofiber has large active sites which make it highly sensitive to chemical analytes. The thickness of the sensing shell can be tuned by controlling the mass ratio of core and shell components. As a demonstration, the nanofiber-based sensor exhibits high sensitivity to low-concentration ammonia (ppb level), as well as stability and reversibility. This unique fast single-nozzle electrospinning technique used to fabricate semiconducting nanofibers with core-shell structure provides a facile and designable process for the integration of multifunctional organic semiconducting layer into the organic electronic system.