Synthesis, characterization and liquid petroleum gas sensing of ZnFe2O4 nanoribbons doped polyaniline nanocomposites

Abstract

Polyaniline/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites are synthesized by insitu polymerization using surfactant and gas sensing properties of these nanocomposites are studied. The nanocomposite formation is confirmed by the prominent peaks of benzenoid, quinoid and oxides in FTIR spectra. SEM shows growth of polymer in two dimensions and homogeneous distribution of ZnFe2O4 nanoribbons in the matrix. With increase in temperature as well as with addition of ZnFe2O4 ribbons in the polymer matrix, the conductivity is found to increase. Sensor device on glass substrate is fabricated using nanocomposites and in this indigenous sensor two probe method is employed for gas sensing studies. Nanocomposite of 30 wt% shows sensitivity of about 86%, with response and recovery times of 403 sec and 312 sec respectively. These nanocomposites are found to be highly stable from the studies of reproducibility and stability. Selectivity studies show that these composites are highly sensitive for LPG among different gases. Copyright © 2016 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved.