Chemical sensors based on polyaniline nanofibers for the detection of hazardous chemicals

ANYL 333

Bruce H. Weiller, bruce.h.weiller@aero.org1, Shabnam Virji, shabnam.virji@aero.org1, and Richard B. Kaner, kaner@chem.ucla.edu2. (1) Materials Processing and Evaluation, Space Materials Laboratory, The Aerospace Corporation, P.O. Box 92957, Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957, (2) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, 607 Charles E. Young Drive East, Box 951569, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569
Recently we have developed simple polymerization methods that are selective for nanofibers, can be readily scaled to make large quantities and can be controlled to selectively produce nanofibers with narrow distributions. Nanofiber-based polyaniline sensors have significantly better performance than conventional material in both sensitivity and time response for all analytes tested including acids, bases, hydrazine, and organic vapors. The high surface area and small diameter of the nanofibers appear to allow facile diffusion of vapors into the films. New composite materials formed from nanofibers and various inorganic and organic materials can be used to detect analytes that do not give a significant response with unmodified polyaniline. For example, hydrogen sulfide is detected using polyaniline nanofibers modified with metal salts. Most recently we have shown that unmodified, doped polyanline nanofibers can be used to detect hydrogen gas. Therefore polyaniline nanofibers have excellent potential for many chemical detection applications.
 

Analytical Approaches: Novel Materials
1:30 PM-4:40 PM, Thursday, 14 September 2006 Moscone Center -- Room 130, Oral

Sci-Mix
8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Monday, 11 September 2006 Moscone Center -- Hall D, Sci-Mix

Division of Analytical Chemistry

The 232nd ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 10-14, 2006