Relationship between ammonia sensing properties of polyaniline nanostructures and their deposition and synthesis methods

The ammonia absorption properties of polyaniline nanostructures are studied in terms of sensitivity, response and recovery times and stability. These characteristics are obtained by measuring, at room temperature, the absorbance variations at 632nm. The nanostructures are synthesized either by interfacial or rapid or dropwise polymerizations with the oxidant-to-monomer mole ratio equals to 0.5 or 1. The influence of the deposition method (in-situ or drop-coating technique) as well as the nature of the dopant (HCl, CSA or I 2) on the gas detection properties are also studied. The results show a strong dependence of the morphology on the deposition method, the in-situ technique leads to the best sensitivity and response time. For this deposition method, the nanostructures sensitivity, response time and regeneration rate depend on the synthesis method, the dopant and the mole ratio. The ageing effect after 8 months under ambient conditions and the mechanism of interaction between the polyaniline nanostructures and ammonia molecules are also presented. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.