Room temperature ppb level Cl2 detection and sensing mechanism of highly selective and sensitive phthalocyanine nanowires

Nanowires of Cu(II) 1,4,8,11,15,18,22,25-octabutoxy-29H,31H-phthalocyanine (CuPcOC4) have been fabricated onto the glass substrate by using low cost self-assembly technique. It has been demonstrated that these nanowires were highly sensitive and selective towards Cl2 at room temperature with minimum detection limit of 5 ppb. The response of nanowires was found to increase linearly (91-670%) with increase in Cl2 concentration (5-1500 ppb). The adsorption of Cl2 on nanowires surface has followed Elovich equation. Raman spectroscopic and XPS studies revealed that central metal ions of CuPcOC4 molecules were the predominant sites of Cl2 absorption. The results emphasized that these nanowires can be promising candidates for room temperature Cl2 sensing applications.