Development of polypyrrole coated copper nanowires for gas sensor application

Both polypyrrole (PPy) and polypyrrole coated copper thin films were synthesized successfully via two-step methods. PPy nanorods films were first grown chemically, and then PPy thin films were fabricated on glass substrates using dip-coating technique. The resulting films were examined via various characterization methods such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA). Gas sensor devices were fabricated and the gas sensitivity for (PPy) coated copper was measured as a function of temperature for both O2 and CO2 gases. The maximum sensitivity for O2 gas was around 160% and the maximum sensitivity for CO2 was 300%. Keywords: Polypyrrole coated copper, Gas sensor, Nanowires, Thin film, Dip coating