Enhanced NO2 selectivity of hybrid poly(3-hexylthiophene): ZnO-nanowire thin films

Abstract

Articles you may be interested inEnhanced ultraviolet electroluminescence from ZnO nanowires in TiO 2 / ZnO coaxial nanowires/poly(3,4ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrene-sulfonate) heterojunction J. Appl. Phys. 107, 034310 (2010); 10.1063/1.3304896 Room-temperature high-sensitivity H 2 S gas sensor based on dendritic ZnO nanostructures with macroscale in appearanceSensing characteristics of the drop-cast thin films of poly͑3-hexylthiophene͒ ͑P3HT͒, ZnO nanowires, and P3HT:ZnO-nanowire hybrids with different compositions have been studied for various gases, namely, NO 2 , H 2 S, NH 3 , CH 4 , and CO. At room temperature, pure P3HT and ZnO-nanowire films were highly sensitive to NO 2 and H 2 S, moderately sensitive to CO, and nearly insensitive to NH 3 and CH 4 . P3HT:ZnO-nanowire hybrid films, with increasing ZnO-nanowire content, exhibited gradual enhancement in NO 2 sensitivity, while reducing sensitivity for H 2 S. P3HT:ZnO-nanowire ͑1:1 ratio by weight͒ films were found to be highly selective for NO 2 . Plausible mechanisms explaining the enhanced NO 2 selectivity by hybrid films are discussed.

Doping of Polymers with ZnO Nanostructures for Optoelectronic and Sensor Applications

“…Doping of P3HT with oxygen defficient ZnO nanowires results in the reduction of P3HT. This is well supported by GI-XRD, XPS and FTIR studies (Saxena et al, 2007). The authors also observed decrease in the P3HT conductivity after ZnO doping suggesting that its hole carrier concentation drops when ZnO donates electrons.…”

“…Interestingly, only P3HT, which is mostly used in photovoltaics, has been reported to have promising sensing behavior when blended with ZnO-NWs (Saxena et al, 2007). As separate materials, P3HT and ZnO-NWs can both be used as a conductivity gas sensor.…”

“…But due to the difference in their conductivity type, they have contrasting response to a specific stimulus. For example, they both exhibit high sensitivity to NO 2 and H 2 S (Saxena et al, 2007). P3HT decreases in resistance upon exposure to NO 2 , which is oxidizing gas, while it behaves oppositely for H 2 S, a reducing gas.…”

Zinc Oxide Nanostructure Thick Films as H<sub>2</sub>S Gas Sensors at Room Temperature

“…It has been proved that ZnO is a good gas sensitive material for detection of both reducing and oxidizing gases [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Various gases have been tested for ZnO nanostructure sensor studied including ethanol, acetone, NO 2 , NH 3 , H 2 and CO 2 and hydrogen [17][18][19][20][21][22].…”

Synthesis of 1-D ZnO nanorods and polypyrrole/1-D ZnO nanocomposites for photocatalysis and gas sensor applications

“…However, metal oxide conducting polymer composites have been found to indicate smart sensing properties. PPy is a p-type material, while ZnO is n-type of material by tailoring this inorganic-organic composite, it is possible to make tunable conductivity sensors for better selectivity [24]. Some well-known materials for NH 3 gas sensing are ZnO, modified-ZnO [25], polyaniline [26], polypyrrole [27], Au and MoO 3 -modified WO 3 [28,29], Pt and SiO 2 -doped SnO 2 [30], etc.…”