Polycurcumin acrylate and polycurcumin methacrylate: Novel bio-based polymers for explosive chemical sensor

This article reports the development of a very simple chemical sensor for nitroaromatic compound from a couple of novel bio-based polymers polycurcumin methacrylate (PCUMA) and polycurcumin acrylate (PCUA). The polymers were characterized by spectroscopic methods and the thermal behavior was observed by thermo gravimetric analysis. Molecular weight of the polymers was determined by gel permeation chromatography. The polymers exhibit purely electronic conduction and was confirmed by Wagner polarization technique. Sensitivities of the polymers were observed by monitoring the impedance response and current–voltage characteristics in presence of the vapor of analytes. The conduction level of PCUMA in presence of the analytes was found to be remarkably high compared to that of PCUA. PCUMA showed one order decrease in log Z values in impedance measurements and 90.44% increase in current density in current–voltage characteristics in presence of picric acid.