A new article out of Ning Yan’s lab has been published in Carbohydrate Polymers about flexible gas sensors made with lignocellulosic nanfibrils written by Nicolas R.Tanguy, Kasra Khorsand Kazemi, Jordan Hong, Krisco-Cheuk Cheung, Sevda Mohammadi, PitchaimariGnanasekar, Sandeep S.Nair, Mohammad H.Zarifi, and Ning Yan

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Abstract

Gas detection in flexible electronics demands novel materials with superior sensing performance that have high mechanical strength, are flexible, low-cost, and sustainable. We explore a composite sensing nanopaper based on lignocellulosic cellulose nanofibrils (LCNF) as a renewable and mechanically strong substrate that enables the fabrication of flexible, and highly sensitive gas sensors. In the system the hydrophobic lignin covalently bonds to cellulose in the nanofibrils, increasing the nanopaper water-resistance and limiting sensing materials response to humidity. The sensor is composed of polyaniline (PANI) grown on flexible LCNF and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets. The proposed structure, at 10 wt% rGO, demonstrated a 10-fold improvement in sensitivity to volatile amines (i.e. ammonia detection down to 1 ppm) while maintaining an acceptable selectivity. Furthermore, we demonstrated the application of the sensing nanopaper in a microwave sensor that paves the path toward flexible, wireless, and high-performance sensing devices.