Improving performance of polymer-based ammonia gas sensor using POMA/V2O5 hybrid films

Conducting polymers such as polyaniline (PANi) have been widely investigated as ammonia gas sensors due to their intrinsic redox states, good environmental stability, and suitability for low-cost and variable changing in electrical conductivity when exposed to acid and basic gases. In this paper we used both a hybrid PANi derivative, poly(o-methoxyaniline) (POMA)-vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) film, and new ac electrical measurement strategies to increase the ammonia gas sensor performance. Complex impedance measurements of POMA/V2O5 hybrid film showed linearity in response and a high sensitivity to ammonia in the 0–20 ppm range in both real (around 800%) and imaginary (around 3000%) components, which indicated that the film is a good candidate to use as an ammonia sensing material. FTIR spectra presented typical V2O5 and POMA bands and also presented a shifting to higher wave numbers in bands referring to the vanadyl group and primary amines, which indicated the presence of hydrogen bonds between oxide and polymer. Finally, the Cole–Cole theoretical model with an interface effect provided a good fit for the experimental results from electrical ac measurements.