Functionalized Carbon Nanofibers (CNFs) for Ammonia Gas Detection at Room Temperature

Abstract The work presented in this paper is related to detection of ammonia gas in room temperature using modified carbon nanofibers (CNFs). CNFs is functionalized with carboxyl group and labeled as CNFs-Carboxylic. CNFs-Carboxylic is then further reacted with octadecanol producing decorated ester functional group and labeled as CNFs-Ester. Interdigitated transducers (IDT) were used as substrates for placement of materials and the samples were deposited via drop cast method. The IDT was placed in a customized chamber equipped with inlet/outlet gas and electrical fed through. The resistance changes due to interaction between resistance and ammonia gas was recorded by digital multimeter that connected to computer. Result showed that IDT with CNFs-Ester provides an extra active area for interaction between analyte gas and CNFs thus improved their response and increased their sensitivity.