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Rapid humidity sensors based on poly(o-phenylenediamine-co-aniline) spherical nanoparticles

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Abstract

Sensitivity toward humidity, response and recovery time, and reproducibility behaviors of a novel copolymer sensor, obtained by oxidative chemical polymerization of o-phenylenediamine and aniline using D-camphor-10-sulfonic acid dopant, were reported. It is a novel copolymer, and there are very few studies available concerning its synthesis and humidity sensing applications. Humidity-sensitive properties of the copolymer were tested by measuring the resistance of the fabricated films, and good humidity sensitivity was obtained. Moreover, a decrease in resistance with the increase in humidity was observed. Compared to polyaniline (PANI), the humidity sensing property of the copolymer was found to show quicker response and recovery time, higher reproducibility, and higher sensitivity. However, PANI alone exhibited relatively poor sensing property. The response time for the copolymer films at the relative humidity ranging from 11 to 97% was about 38 s, and the corresponding recovery time was about 11 s. The value of sensitivity was about 10. These results indicate excellent sensing character of the new type of copolymer humidity sensors. The obtained sensor is expected to exhibit good humidity sensing behavior in moisture-containing environment.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21103062) and the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies (KOFST) Grant funded by the Korean government (MSIP: Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning). W. R. is grateful to the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 2014M561286).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Food Science and Engineering, Changchun University, Changchun, 130012, People’s Republic of China

    Tieli Zhou, Shuqing Wu & Jianyan Cai

  2. State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, People’s Republic of China

    Weidong Ruan

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  1. Tieli Zhou
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  2. Shuqing Wu
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Zhou, T., Wu, S., Cai, J. et al. Rapid humidity sensors based on poly(o-phenylenediamine-co-aniline) spherical nanoparticles. Polym. Bull. 77, 1095–1105 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-019-02794-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-019-02794-z

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