Fabrication of room temperature liquid petroleum gas sensor based on PAni–CNT–V2O5 hybrid nanocomposite

Vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) nanoparticles have been synthesized by hydrothermal method. Polyaniline (PAni)—carbon nanotube (CNT)—V2O5 hybrid nanocomposite has synthesized by chemical polymerization of PAni in the presence of CNT—V2O5 nanocomposite. The band gap energy of the hybrid nanocomposite is calculated as 3.02 eV using UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy. Chemical composition and crystalline nature has been analyzed using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, respectively. Scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope are involved in the morphological analysis of the hybrid nanocomposite. Sensing electrodes are fabricated by spin coating of the sensing material on printed circuit board. The electrodes have been investigated for their sensing behavior towards oxygen, hydrogen and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) at room temperature. It has been observed that the electrode is selectively sensitive to the LPG with improved sensitivity (300%), response time (20 s) and recovery time (15 s) in the range of 10–50 ppm. The reproducibility of the response curve of the electrode is tested and it is 83.33% stable for the period of 50 days.