Twistable and tailorable Cu-doped SnO2@PANI textile for wearable ammonia sensing

• Published in: Applied surface science Vol. 630; p. 157529
• Main Authors: Guo, Longjun, Liu, Wei, Wang, Chunqing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-09-2023
• Subjects: Cu-doped SnO2@PANI; Flexible ammonia sensor; Hollow porous structure; P-n heterojunction; Room temperature; P-n heterojunction; Cu-doped SnO2@PANI; Room temperature; Hollow porous structure; Flexible ammonia sensor
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2023.157529

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•Hollow porous Cu-doped SnO2@PANI (PCS) composite was assembled on a flexible non-woven fabric substrate for NH3 sensor.•The enhanced sensing performances were due to the heterojunction, abundant –OH group and Oxygen vacancy.•The textile presents excellent twistability and tailorability.•The material displays excellent compatibility with clothes for wearable NH3 sensing.
Herein, a twistable and tailorable NH3 sensor utilizing hollow porous Cu-doped SnO2@PANI (PCS) composite was assembled on a flexible non-woven fabric substrate by in-situ polymerization technique and its gas sensing performance was tested at room temperature (∼25 °C). The results indicated that the well-designed PCS sensor to 50 ppm NH3 exhibited six times higher response (25.4) than the pristine PANI sensor (4.5). The PCS flexible sensor still possessed a response (1.53) for 10 ppb NH3, and the detection limit could reach 5.2 ppb for NH3. Meanwhile, the PCS flexible sensor demonstrated excellent flexibility with response decreases of only 1.97 % after 1000 times bending (120°), and 2.11 % after 100 times folding (150°) and long-term stability through 42 days of monitoring (maintaining 98.4 % response). Furthermore, the PCS sensor displayed insensitivity to relative humidity (20 % − 75 % RH), and the low sensing temperature could reach − 15 °C. The enhanced sensing performance of the PCS sensor was attributed to the synergistic effect of the vital role of abundant oxygen vacancy and − OH groups, as well as the hollow porous interconnected structure and the p-n heterojunction between Cu-doped SnO2 and PANI. This work provides more opportunities to design smart wearable devices for detecting ppb-level NH3 at room temperature.