Room temperature operating sensitive and reproducible ammonia sensor based on PANI/hematite nanocomposite

Abstract

A facile, ultra-sensitive, quickly recoverable, and room temperature operating ammonia sensor was developed by using polyaniline (PANI) and hematite (α-Fe2O3) hybrid nanocomposite. The hematite nanoparticles were obtained by template-free hydrothermal process. The PANI/α-Fe2O3 nanocomposite was synthesized by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization process of aniline in presence of α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles. The structural and morphological study and compositional analysis of PANI/α-Fe2O3 were performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The PANI/α-Fe2O3 sensor showed excellent reproducibility, ultra-fast response, and excellent sensitivity (46.72%) as compared to PANI (29.72%) sensor towards ammonia gas at room temperature.