Rapid, facile microwave-assisted synthesis of xanthan gum grafted polyaniline for chemical sensor

•Polyaniline grafted xanthan gum was synthesized by microwave assisted technique.•Process is highly energy efficient and takes significantly less reaction time (∼50 s).•Detailed characterization of grafted xanthan gum by UV–vis, FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TGA.•Fabricated grafted sample film were then examined for the chemical sensor.•Chemiresistive NH3 sensors with superior room temperature sensing performance.

Grafting method, through microwave radiation procedure is extremely productive in terms of time consumption, cost effectiveness and environmental friendliness. In this study, conductive and thermally stable composite (mwXG-g-PANi) was synthesized by grafting of aniline (ANi) on to xanthan gum (XG) using catalytic weight of initiator, ammonium peroxydisulfate in the process of microwave irradiation in an aqueous medium. The synthesis of mwXG-g-PANi were confirm by FTIR, XRD, TGA, and SEM. The influence of altering the microwave power, exposure time of microwave, concentration of monomer and the amount of initiator of graft polymerization were studied over the grafting parameters, for example, grafting percentage (%G) and grafting efficiency (%E). The maximum %G and %E achieved was 172 and 74.13 respectively. The outcome demonstrates that the microwave irradiation strategy can increase the reaction rate by 72 times over the conventional method. Electrical conductivity of XG and mwXG-g-PANi composite film was performed. The fabricated grafted sample film were then examined for the chemical sensor. The mwXG-g-PANi, effectively integrated and handled, are NH3 sensitive and exhibit a rapid sensing in presence of NH3 vapor. Chemiresistive NH3 sensors with superior room temperature sensing performance were produced with sensor response of 905 at 1 ppb and 90% recovery within few second.

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