Flexible, all-organic ammonia sensor based on dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid-doped polyaniline films

A stable chlorobenzene dispersion of conducting polyaniline (PANI) has been obtained by doping emeraldine base with dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DBSA) and studied by spectrophotometric measurements in the UV–vis–IR range. The electrical properties of PANI: DBSA films obtained from the above dispersion have been investigated under different temperature and relative humidity conditions. All-organic chemoresistive devices have been developed by spin-coating the PANI: DBSA dispersion on flexible substrates, and then by depositing electrodes on the top, from a carbon nanotube conducting ink. Sensing tests performed under exposition to calibrated amounts of ammonia reveal that these simple and inexpensive sensors are able to detect ammonia at room temperature in a reliable way, with a sensitivity linearly related to concentration in the range between 5 ppm and 70 ppm.