Polyaniline Nanofiber Based Surface Acoustic Wave Gas Sensors—Effect of Nanofiber Diameter on H2 Response

A template-free rapidly mixed reaction was employed to synthesize polyaniline nanofibers using chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline. Hydrochloric acid (HCl) and camphor sulfonic acid (CSA) were used in the synthesis to obtain 30and 50-nm average diameter polyaniline nanofibers. The nanofibers were deposited onto layered ZnO/64◦ YX LiNbO3 surface-acoustic-wave transducers. The sensors were tested toward hydrogen (H2) gas while operating at room temperature. The dopant for the polyaniline nanofiber synthesis was found to have a significant effect on the device sensitivity. The sensor response was found to be larger for the 50-nm diameter CSA-doped nanofiber based sensors, while the response and recovery times were faster for the 30-nm diameter HCl-doped nanofibers.