Rizky Aflaha, Nur Laili Indah Sari, Laila Katriani, Ahmad Hasan As'ari, Ahmad Kusumaatmaja, Aditya Rianjanu, Roto Roto, Hutomo Suryo Wasisto, Kuwat Triyana
Various ammonia sensors based on different materials have continuously been developed and employed to enable real-time monitoring of ammonia gas in the environment. Efforts are put not only to improve their sensitivity and selectivity towards the target gas but also to operate them at room temperature. Here, we investigated the effect of overlaying maltodextrin with different concentrations on the surface of polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) nanofibers on ammonia sensing performances, in which quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was utilized as a transducer to measure the resonance frequency shift affected by the adsorbed gas molecules. Higher concentrations of the overlaying maltodextrin led to larger nanofiber diameter and more functional active groups on the active nanofibrous layers. PVAc nanofibers with 0.05% maltodextrin overlay demonstrated the highest sensitivity of 0.525 Hz·ppm−1 at room temperature, which was 6.4 times higher than their bare counterpart (nanofiber without maltodextrin overlay). That sensor also possessed fast response and recovery times of 32 s and 17 s with a low detection limit (1.92 ppm). Besides its high reproducibility, reversibility, and repeatability, the sensor exhibited outstanding selectivity to other gas analytes and good long-term stability for 32 days of testing. This research shows that maltodextrin overlay can be used as a low-cost alternative route to increase the performance of organic material-based ammonia sensors, especially polymer nanofibers. © 2023
Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sekip Utara, BLS 21, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia; Department of Physics Education, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Karangmalang, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia; Research Center for Advanced Materials, National Research and Innovation Agency, Building 440-442 Kawasan Puspiptek Serpong, Tangerang Selatan, 15314, Indonesia; Department of Materials Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung Selatan, 35365, Indonesia; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sekip Utara, BLS 21, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia; PT Nanosense Instrument Indonesia, Umbulharjo, Yogyakarta, 55167, Indonesia; Center for Green and Sustainable Materials, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung Selatan, 35365, Indonesia
