Flexible room temperature sensor with modulation of polyaniline interfacial polymerization by CTAB for ppb-level ammonia detection

A highly selective and sensitive flexible room temperature ammonia (NH3) sensor was produced by in situ po-lymerizations of polyaniline (PANI) with modulation of Hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium Bromide (CTAB) on a porous Polyvinylidene fluoride film (PVDF). CTAB allows the PANI nanoparticles to grow uniformly on the surface and in the internal pores of the PVDF film, which increases the sensor's response to the NH3. As a result, the sensor's response values to 5 ppm NH3 and 0.01 ppm NH3 are 81.3 % and 4.6 % at 20 degrees C, respectively. The sensor also shows excellent selectivity for NH3 and maintains superior stability. Such a highly responsive and sensitive sensor is expected to be applied to detect chronic kidney disease.