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Spectroscopic and electrical sensing mechanism in oxidant-mediated polypyrrole nanofibers/nanoparticles for ammonia gas

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Abstract

Ammonia gas sensing mechanism in oxidant-mediated polypyrrole (PPy) nanofibers/nanoparticles has been studied through spectroscopic and electrical investigations. PPy nanofibers/nanoparticles have been synthesized by chemical oxidation method in the presence of various oxidizing agents such as ammonium persulfate (APS), potassium persulfate (PPS), vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), and iron chloride (FeCl3). Scanning electron microscopy study revealed that PPy nanofibers of about 63, 71 and 79 nm diameters were formed in the presence of APS, PPS, V2O5, respectively, while PPy nanoparticles of about 100–110 nm size were obtained in the presence of FeCl3 as an oxidant. The structural investigations and confirmation of synthesis of PPy were established through Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy. The gas sensing behavior of the prepared PPy samples is investigated by measuring the electrical resistance in ammonia environment. The observed gas sensing response \( \left( {{{\Updelta R} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\Updelta R} R}} \right. \kern-0pt} R} \times 100} \right) \) at 100 ppm level of ammonia is ~4.5 and 18 % for the samples prepared with oxidizing agents FeCl3 and APS, respectively, and by changing the ammonia level from 50 to 300 ppm, the sensing response varies from ~4.5 to 11 % and ~10 to 39 %, respectively. Out of all four samples, the PPy nanofibers prepared in the presence of APS have shown the best sensing response. The mechanism of gas sensing response of the PPy samples has been investigated through Raman spectroscopy study. The decrease of charge carrier concentration through reduction of polymeric chains has been recognized through Raman spectroscopic measurements recorded in ammonia environment.

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Acknowledgments

Authors are grateful to Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India for sponsoring project SR/S2/CMP-0099/2010. The authors are also thankful to Vice Chancellor, University of Delhi, India for financial assistance. One of the authors (Ishpal) acknowledges Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for financial assistance during his Senior Research Fellowship (SRF).

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  1. Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Ishpal & Amarjeet Kaur

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  1. Ishpal
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  2. Amarjeet Kaur
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Correspondence to Amarjeet Kaur.

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Special Issue Editors: Juan Manuel Rojo, Vasileios Koutsos

This article is part of the topical collection on Nanostructured Materials 2012

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Ishpal, Kaur, A. Spectroscopic and electrical sensing mechanism in oxidant-mediated polypyrrole nanofibers/nanoparticles for ammonia gas. J Nanopart Res 15, 1637 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-1637-y

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