Influence of dopant in the synthesis, characteristics and ammonia sensing behavior of processable polyaniline

Polyaniline (PANI) was synthesized by oxidative polymerization of aniline as well as aniline hydrochloride by ammonium persulfate in the presence of para-toluene sulfonic acid (PTSA). This helped in direct usage of the conducting PANI solution for film casting and use as a device for ammonia gas sensing. Viscosity change with applied shear rate was measured for both the polymers. Solid PANI powder was isolated from its tetrahydrofuran solution by using methanol as non-solvent. Thermogravimetric analysis investigated the thermal properties of the solid PANI salts. Elemental analysis of both PANI synthesized in presence of PTSA and PANI synthesized in presence of HCl and PTSA was investigated. A thin coherent film of both the conducting PANI were deposited on glass slides precoated with poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) crosslinked with maleic acid (MA) and was directly used in the sensor device. The morphology of the deposited films was analyzed by scanning electron micrograph. The films were further characterized by Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, ultra violet-visible spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses. Finally, both the doped PANI films on MA crosslinked PVA coated glass slides were used to measure the conductivity and ammonia gas-sensing characteristics.