Ammonia sensing and DC electrical conductivity studies of p-toluene sulfonic acid doped cetyltrimethylammonium bromide assisted V2O5@polyaniline composite nanofibers

This paper reports the synthesis of V2O5@polyaniline (Pani) composite nanofibers by the in situ oxidative polymerization of aniline in the presence of V2O5 and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, as a surfactant. The prepared composite nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-visible diffused reflectance spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. The V2O5@Pani composite nanofibers showed higher DC electrical conductivity than Pani, which might be due to the increased mobility of the charge carriers after the incorporation of V2O5. V2O5@Pani also showed a better ammonia sensing and recovery response than Pani due to the synergistic effect of V2O5 and Pani. (C) 2014 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.