Sensitivity enhancement for LPG detection by employing Cadmium oxide doped in nanocrystalline polyaniline

Abstract

The Cadmium oxide doped nanocrystalline polyaniline (CdO/PANI) composite was prepared with various weight percentages of CdO by in situ polymerization method using aniline, ammonium persulfate and CdO as starting materials. The CdO/PANI composite was characterized by X-ray diffractometer and FTIR techniques. The SEM micrograph of the pure polyaniline shows irregular shaped granules of size ranging from 60-80 nm and that of CdO/PANI composites show granules of 0.60-0.65 ?m in size. The temperature dependent conductivity measurement shows the thermally activated exponential behavior of CdO/PANI composites. The selectivity is found to be maximum for LPG and moderate for CO 2 and ethanol. It is also seen that around 400 PPM v concentration of LPG, sensitivity is 75% for 50 wt% of CdO/PANI composites. Copyright © 2011 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved.