Application of sulfuric acid doped poly (m-aminophenol) as aliphatic alcohol vapor sensor material

Chemically synthesized processable poly (m-aminophenol) (PmAP) film was cast from dimethyl sulfoxide solution and doped with sulfuric acid by solution doping technique. This sulfuric acid doped PmAP film shows a good electrical conductivity. The response of doped film under continuous flow of various aliphatic alcohols vapor and air mixture was examined at room temperature (30 °C) and humidity (65% RH). The doped polymer only showed good result for methanol and ethanol vapor and some week response for the isopropanol vapor. A decrease in resistivity of the doped PmAP film was separately observed in air–alcohol vapor at different concentrations. The response of the film increases as the concentration of the alcohol vapor increases in air–alcohols vapor mixture. The kinetics of the response with respect to the alcohol concentration was studied for methanol and ethanol. Sulfuric acid doped and methanol vapor absorbed doped films were characterized by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopic, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopic and X-ray diffraction analyses. The mechanism of alcohol vapor sensing by sulfuric acid doped PmAP film has been explained on the basis of the above characterizations. All the above facts are trying to explain from the proposed mechanistic point of view.