Fabrication of Poly(p-Phenylene)Zeolite Composites and Their Responses Towards Ammonia.docVIP

Sensors 2009, 9, 8031-8046; doi:10.3390/OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 /journal/sensors Article Fabrication of Poly(p-Phenylene)/Zeolite Composites and Their Responses Towards Ammonia Pimchanok Phumman, Sumonman Niamlang and Anuvat Sirivat * Center of Excellence in Petroleum Petrochemicals and Advanced Materials, The Petroleum and Petrochemical College, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand; E-Mails: pimnokp@ (P.P.); tanggggo@ (S.N.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: anuvat.s@chula.ac.th (A.S.); Tel.: +66-2218-4131, Fax: +66-2611-7221. Received: 8 September 2009; in revised form: 23 September 2009 / Accepted: 9 October 2009 / Published: 13 October 2009 Abstract: Poly(p-phenylene) (PPP) was chemically synthesized via oxidative polymerization using benzene and doped with FeCl3. The electrical conductivity response of the doped PPP (dPPP) towards CO, H2 and NH3 is investigated. dPPP shows no electrical conductivity response towards the first two gases (CO and H2), but it shows a definite negative response towards NH3. The electrical conductivity sensitivity of dPPP increases linearly with increasing NH3 concentration. To improve the sensitivity of the sensor towards NH3, ZSM-5 zeolite is added into the conductive polymer matrix. The electrical sensitivity of the sensor increases with increasing zeolite content up to 30%. The effect of the type of cation in the zeolite pores is investigated: namely, Na+, K+, NH4+ and H+. The electrical conductivity sensitivity of the composites with different cations in the zeolite can be arranged in this order: K+ no zeolite Na+ NH4+ H+. The variation in electrical sensitivity with cation type can be described in terms of the acid-base interaction, the zeolite pore size and surface area. The PPP/Zeolite composite with H+ possesses the highest electrical sensitivity of ?0.36 since H+ has t