Vanadium Oxide−PANI Nanocomposite-Based Macroscopic Fibers: 1D Alcohol Sensors Bearing Enhanced Toughness

Abstract

For the first time, using an extrusion process, macroscopic composite poly-vinyl alcohol(PVA)/poly-aniline (PANI)-V2O5 fibers have been generated. Besides the extrusion process itself, this is certainly the first redox reaction addressed while performing an extrusion shaping process. The as-synthesized fibers have been characterized at different length scales, revealing at the mesoscale a 30° preferential orientation of the nanoribbons subunits toward the macroscopic fiber main axis. At the microscopic length scale, despite a semiamorphous nature, electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy has been employed to reveal partial reduction of V5+ species to V4+ ones, where the paramagnetic species local environment has been found to be close to hydrated vanadium oxide xerogels. Concerning the organic counterpart, the aniline is oxidized into poly aniline when considering both the fibers characterization through ESR and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and the well-known strongly oxidizing character of V5+ species toward aniline. These new PVA/PANI-V2O5 fibers are cycling when sensing alcoholic vapors while offering a good selectivity. The addressed sensitivity allows sensing 5 ppm of ethanol within 3−5 s at 42 °C. Beyond, the as-synthesized PVA/PANI-V2O5 macroscopic fibers possess a toughness of 12 J g−1, a value that has been increased by more than 120 times when compared with nanoporous inorganic fibers.

Synthesis, Structure, and Sensor Properties of Vanadium Pentoxide Nanorods

“…describes the preparation of nanorods of monoclinic bariandite V 10 O 24 · 12H 2 O (PDF2 database file number 25‐1006). In refs 13,22. ribbon‐like nanorods of monoclinic vanadium dioxide are reported.…”

“…1D‐Nanostructured vanadium oxides are of interest as a way to develop sensors based on a single particle. Recently, nanobelts of vanadium(IV–V) oxides were reported as promising materials for ethanol sensors,7 nanofibers of V 2 O 5 were found to be promising as an ammonia sensor material;12 nanofibers of vanadium pentoxide were also reported to be sensitive to alcohols (methanol, ethanol, and butanol) 13. Some synthetic techniques for the preparation of vanadium oxide nanorods have been described in ref 14…”

Polyaniline‐Intercalated Molybdenum Oxide Nanocomposites: Simultaneous Synthesis and their Enhanced Application for Supercapacitor

“…[11] The conducting polymer-inorganic oxide hybrid components in general represent the synergistic effect with very significant contributions to the field of material science. [12][13][14][15][16] The combination of two extremely different components, at the molecular level, provides a method to design new nanocomposite materials as well as the ability to improve the properties of both components. To obtain rapid and efficient charge storage and delivery, the orientation of polymer chains in inorganic hosts is necessary, so that the polymer molecules can be expected to grow inside the structurally organized inorganic frameworks, such as 3D hosts with large oriented tunnels and 2D hosts with interlayer space.…”

TiO2 Macroscopic Fibers with Enhanced Photocatalytic Properties Obtained through a Scale‐Up Semi‐Industrial Process

“…By contrast, conventional wet spinning can be scaled up and is actually already used for the industrial production of several synthetic fibers. This approach based on the injection and coagulation of fiber material dispersed in a liquid has already been employed in our group for the generation of macroscopic carbon nanotube fibers for actuators, titania fibers for photocatalysis, vanadium oxide for gas sensors, and zinc oxide fibers dedicated to photonics . In the case of vanadium oxide fibers, it was demonstrated that: (i) the inclusion of latex particles influences the PVA chains alignment, (ii) the alignment of the PVA chains and the nano‐ribbons along the fiber main axis has an impact on the fiber mesoscopic organization, and (iii) the mesoscopic organization modifies the detection of alcohol vapor.…”