Abstract
In this paper, we report a unique hierarchical core–shell polycaprolactone–polyaniline fiber with spinous surface structures, which is fabricated by direct in situ oxidative polymerization of aniline on the surface of porous electrospun PCL fibers. Due to the high surface area-to-volume ratio caused by the hierarchical structure, when utilized for ammonia gas sensing, the resulting core–shell fibers exhibit high sensitivity, which is far superior to that of the film or the smooth fiber counterparts. In addition, the sensor based on the current structure is extremely sensitive to the ammonia gas, which is evidenced by the fast response time (20 s) and the low detection limit (1 ppm). Moreover, the sensor not only shows good repeatability when repetitively exposing it to the ammonia gas but also exhibits good selectivity toward ammonia over other common volatile organic compounds. We thus believe the structure reported in the current study may have potential applications in the field of ammonia gas sensor.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21574094, 21304064), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant Nos. BK20130292, BK20150314), Collaborative Innovation Center (CIC) of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology and a Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), the Fund for Excellent Creative Research Teams of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions and the project-sponsored by SRF for ROCS, SEM.
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Wei Zhou and Yutong Guo have contributed equally to this work.
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Zhou, W., Guo, Y., Zhang, H. et al. A highly sensitive ammonia sensor based on spinous core–shell PCL–PANI fibers. J Mater Sci 52, 6554–6566 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-0890-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-0890-3