Polyaniline nanofiber hydrogen sensors

摘要

A method for sensing hydrogen includes the use of a transduction device with a sensing layer, and means for measuring a mass and/or conductivity change caused by an interaction of a gas with the sensing layer to provide a measure of an amount of hydrogen in the gas. The sensing layer includes polyaniline nanofiber material.

主权项

1. A method for determining the quantity of molecular hydrogen (H2) in a gas, comprising:
providing a transduction device with a sensing layer consisting of polyaniline nanofibers in an acid-doped emeraldine salt form; the acid-doped emeraldine salt polyaniline nanofibers deposited on an between underlying electrodes to form an electrically conductive path between said electodes, wherein the acid-doped emeraldine salt polyaniline nanofibers are formed by doping polyaninline nanofibers with camphorsulfonic acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid or polymeric acid dopants, said transduction device configured for measuring changes in electrical conductivity of the sensing layer caused by an interaction of the molecular hydrogen with the acid-doped emeraldine salt polyaniline nanofibers, measuring the electrical conductivity of the transduction device prior to exposure to the gas containing molecular hydrogen, exposing the transduction device sensing layer to the gas containing molecular hydrogen, said exposure to molecular hydrogen resulting in a reduced conductivity, the reduction in conductivity dependent on the concentration of the molecular hydrogen in the gas, and measuring the electrical conductivity of the transduction device following exposure to the molecular hydrogen and comparing the measurements both before and after exposure, said reduced conductivity thereof providing a measure of an amount of molecular hydrogen in the gas.