Room temperature ammonia sensing based on graphene oxide integrated flexible polyvinylidenefluoride/cerium oxide nanocomposite films

ABSTRACT

In this work, novel room temperature (RT) ammonia (NH₃) sensors comprising graphene oxide (GO) integrated polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF)/cerium oxide (CeO₂) nanocomposite films have been prepared via simple solution casting technique. The structural and morphological characteristics of flexible tertiary PVDF/CeO₂/GO nanocomposite films have been investigated using various analytical techniques and their NH₃ gas-sensing performance was evaluated at RT and the relevant sensing mechanism was established. The flexible PVDF/CeO₂/GO nanocomposite films responded strongly to NH₃ gas with enhanced gas sensing properties at RT as compared with various other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as acetone, ethanol, formaldehyde and toluene.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• CeO₂
• GO
• PVDF
• NH₃ sensing
• chemiresistive sensors

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kalim Deshmukh

Kalim Deshmukh completed his M. Sc. degree in Physics from the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, India and Ph.D. degree in Physics from B. S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai-600048, Tamil Nadu, India. During his Ph.D, he worked on ‘’Graphene oxide and transition metal oxide reinforced flexible polymer composites as high dielectric constant materials for energy storage applications’’. Presently, he is working as a researcher at the New Technologies-Research Centre, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic. He has over 15 years of research experience in synthesis, characterization and structure-property investigation of a wide range of polymeric materials, polymer blends and nanocomposites. He has over 80 research publications in the peer-reviewed international journals and 15 book chapters to his credit. He has actively participated and presented his research work in several international conferences and seminars. Moreover, he has been serving as a reviewer for several reputed international journals.

S. K. Khadheer Pasha

S. K. Khadheer Pasha obtained his M.Sc. degree in Physics from Osmania University, MPhil degree from Anna University, and PhD degree in physics from the Department of Physics, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore-632014, TN, India. He is currently working as a Senior Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, VIT-AP University. He has about seven years of teaching and 12 years of research experience. Currently, he is guiding 5 PhD students working on wide range of research topics. His research interest is mainly focussed on the synthesis of nanocomposite materials for various applications such as energy storage, sensors, EMI shielding etc., He has published over 60 research articles in the peer reviewed international journals and 8 book chapters. In addition, he has been serving as a reviewer for several international journals.