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

Abstract This paper reports the synthesis of V 2 O 5 @polyaniline (Pani) composite nanofibers by the in situ oxidative polymerization of aniline in the presence of V 2 O 5 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 V 2 O 5 @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 V 2 O 5 . V 2 O 5 @Pani also showed a better ammonia sensing and recovery response than Pani due to the synergistic effect of V 2 O 5 and Pani.