A room temperature polyaniline nanofiber hydrogen gas sensor

Electro-conductive polyaniline (PANI) nanofiber based surface acoustic wave (SAW) gas sensors have been investigated with hydrogen (H
₂
) gas. A template-free, rapidly mixed method was employed to synthesize polyaniline nanofibers using chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline. The nanofibers were deposited onto a layered ZnO/64deg YX LiNbO
₃
SAW transducer for gas sensing applications. The novel sensor was exposed to various concentrations of H
₂
gas at room temperature. The sensor response, defined as the relative variation in operating frequency of oscillation due to the introduction of the gas, was 3.04 kHz towards a 1% H
₂
concentration. A relatively fast response time of 8 sec and a recovery time of 60 sec with good repeatability were observed at room temperature. Due to room temperature operation, the novel gas sensor is promising for environmental and industrial applications