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Cellulose nanofiber/cationic conjugated polymer hybrid aerogel sensor for nitroaromatic vapors detection

  • Polymers
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Abstract

A novel porous aerogel of cellulose nanofiber (CNF)/cationic water-soluble poly[9,9-bis[3′-(N,N-dimethy)-N-ethylammonium)propyl)-2,7-fluorene-alt-1,4-phenylene]dibromide (CPFD) is prepared by freeze drying. CNF can effectively prevent aggregation of the conjugated polymer CPFD backbones. The CNF/CPFD hybrid aerogel is use for the detection of nitroaromatic (NAC) vapors. Due to the porous structure, the CNF/CPFD hybrid aerogel possesses a large number of accessible cavities, which could be sufficiently large to allow the diffusion of NAC vapors into the aerogel. As a result, the CNF/CPFD aerogel sensor shows high sensitivity toward NAC vapors. For 120-s exposure, the fluorescence quenching efficiency of the CNF/CPFD aerogel sensor toward 2,4-dinitrotoluene vapor is up to 85.9%, which is much larger than that of the spin-cast CPFD film. Furthermore, the sensing performance of the CNF/CPFD hybrid aerogel is not heavily dependent on the thickness, and the sensing process of the CNF/CPFD aerogel sensor is reversible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Jingjing Qin & Lang Chen

  2. Fuzhou Command Academy of Armed Police Force, Fuzhou, China

    Jingjing Qin & Chenghui Zhao

  3. Armed Police Force Engineering University, Xi’an, China

    Qixiang Lin

  4. Fujian Division of the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force, Fujian, China

    Shaowei Chen

Authors
  1. Jingjing Qin
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  2. Lang Chen
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  3. Chenghui Zhao
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  4. Qixiang Lin
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  5. Shaowei Chen
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Correspondence to Lang Chen.

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Qin, J., Chen, L., Zhao, C. et al. Cellulose nanofiber/cationic conjugated polymer hybrid aerogel sensor for nitroaromatic vapors detection. J Mater Sci 52, 8455–8464 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1065-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1065-y

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