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Sensing of low concentration of ammonia at room temperature by decorated multi-walled carbon nanotube: fabrication and characteristics

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Abstract

A chemical sensor based on multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) decorated with densely populated thiol-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with sizes smaller than 3 nm for sensing low concentrations of ammonia gas is reported. The functionalized MWCNTs, subsequently decorated with AuNPs following an easy fabrication route were exposed to NH3 gas at the room temperature and the electrical resistance of the sensor changed upon exposure. The sensor also partially recovered the initial state after sensing in the normal air environment (without any dry air or N2 gas purge). The gold nanoparticles decoration is found to enhance the sensitivity and selectivity of MWCNT towards NH3 gas under ambient conditions with a reduced response and recovery time. The material was structurally characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. Thermal stability of the sensor till 574 °C was demonstrated by TGA analysis. This papers describes how thiol-capped AuNPs are uniformly decorated on the outer walls of the MWCNTs with a separation of 2–3 nm making use of the ionic nature of Au and how this uniform distribution of AuNPs increases the active sites for absorption of NH3 gas molecules leading to sensing its low concentrations.

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Acknowledgements

Authors thankfully acknowledge Dr Biswarup Satpati, Mr Ashis Kumar Kundu and Prof. Debapriya De and would like to acknowledge the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Director of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) for financial and institutionalassistances.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, HBNI, 1/AF Bidhannagar, Kolkata, WB, 700064, India

    S. T. Hasnahena & M. Roy

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  1. S. T. Hasnahena
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  2. M. Roy
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Correspondence to M. Roy.

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Hasnahena, S.T., Roy, M. Sensing of low concentration of ammonia at room temperature by decorated multi-walled carbon nanotube: fabrication and characteristics. Appl. Phys. A 124, 4 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-017-1405-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-017-1405-4

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