Synthesis of composite thin-film polymer consisting of tungsten and zinc oxide as hydrogen gas detector

A composite polymer consisting of polyaniline (PANI) was synthesised via oxidative polymerisation by varying concentrations of transitional metal oxides and the presence of a hydrogen dissociation catalyst, palladium (Pd). The metal oxides chosen for this study were tungsten oxide (WO3) and zinc oxide (ZnO). The composite polymer samples were characterised using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy where ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy was used to observe the optical changes of the thin films due to exposure to hydrogen. The FTIR spectra obtained confirmed the synthesis of PANI composite. Based on the UV-VIS analysis, PANI-ZnO composite polymer showed the highest difference in peak intensity before and after exposure to hydrogen with 11.4% difference.