Characterization and sensitivitiy to harmful gases of polymer based nano thin films prepared via Langmuir-Blodgett technique

In this study, polymer based chemical sensors were developed by using α-(naphthalen-1-yloxy)-2-oxoethyl methacrylate polymer (Poly-NMA) as sensor materials. For this purpose, a polymer derivative was designed as a Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) thin film chemical gas sensor element. The Poly-NMA material was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), 1 HNMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) and 13C-NMR analyses. All Poly-NMA LB thin film layers were characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), UV-Visible Spectroscopy and Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) techniques. The polymeric chemical sensor was exposed to four different harmful organic vapors (dichloromethane, chloroform, benzene and toluene) using QCM technique. Also, the values of the sensitivity and Limit of Detection (LOD) were determined for Poly-NMA chemical sensor against to the harmful vapors used in this study. The obtained results showed the response of the polymeric chemical sensor to the harmful vapors large, fast and reversible and the values of kinetic responses were found in an increasing order as dichloromethane, chloroform, benzene and toluene at room temperature.