Solution-based Spin Cast Processed Polypyrrole/Niobium Pentoxide Nanocomposite as Room Temperature Liquefied Petroleum Gas Sensor

Abstract

In the present work, fabrication of polypyrrole (PPy)/niobium pentoxide (Nb₂O₅) nanocomposite as room temperature liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sensing device is reported. Nb₂O₅ nanoparticles were combined with PPy via chemical polymerization to obtain PPy/Nb₂O₅ nanocomposite structure and was characterized for structural and morphological studies by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Then, the nanocomposites were chemically processed and coated on easily available glass substrate to obtain a film of the composite by cost-effective spin coating technique and a sensing response of 38.125% was observed at 500 ppm of LPG at room temperature with a response time of 75 s and recovery time of 98 s. The sensing mechanism is discussed with the help of energy band diagram.

Keywords:

• Liquid petroleum gas
• Nanocomposites
• Niobium pentoxide
• P–n junction
• Polypyrrole
• Selectivity
• Sensing response
• Stability

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This article is a collaborative effort between Government Science College, Chitradurga, and Department of Physics, College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET), University of South Africa (UNISA), Johannesburg 0003, South Africa. The authors also wish to acknowledge SAIF, Cochin, for providing facilities for structural characterization of the samples.