Polyaniline nanofiber composites with metal salts: Chemical sensors for ethylene oxide

INOR 254

Robert W. Kojima, kojima@chem.ucla.edu1, Shabnam Virji, shabnam.virji@aero.org2, Jesse Fowler, Jesse.D.Fowler@aero.org2, Richard B. Kaner, kaner@chem.ucla.edu1, and Bruce H. Weiller, bruce.h.weiller@aero.org2. (1) 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, (2) Materials Processing and Evaluation, Space Materials Laboratory, The Aerospace Corporation, P.O. Box 92957, M2-248, Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957
Prior art has shown polyaniline nanofibers as viable chemical sensors for a variety of gases including H2, hydrogen sulfide, HCl and ammonia. The rapid mixing process used to synthesize these fibers utilizes no organic solvents and therefore is an environmentally friendly and easily scalable synthetic method.

Ethylene oxide is an important industrial gas reagent used in a variety of processes and in very large scale. Its flammability, reactivity, and toxicity coupled with its high concentration requirements for olfactory sensing make ethylene oxide an ideal candidate for alternative methods of detection. Known to be incompatible with transition metal chlorides due to cationic polymerization, ethylene oxide can be detected below the odor threshold by resistive sensors comprised of metal salts and nanoform polyaniline.

 

Nanoscience: Applications
7:00 PM-10:00 PM, Sunday, August 19, 2007 BCEC -- Exhibit Hall - B2, Poster

Division of Inorganic Chemistry

The 234th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007