Advances in electrospun nanofiber fabrication for polyaniline (PANI)-based chemoresistive sensors for gaseous ammonia

Abstract

Ammonia (NH3) is one of the most abundant inorganic pollutants present in air. Efficient and rapid detection of ammonia is important to maintain the quality of air in both indoor as well as outdoor environment. Among various sensing principles, resistive sensing is a very popular option for the accurate detection of ammonia levels. Further, out of all the materials for sensing applications, polyaniline (PANI) is reported as a highly recommendable option for the construction of such sensing system. Specifically, the utility of PANI modifed by a facile electrospinning method has been demonstrated in the fabrication of efficient sensing systems for gaseous ammonia. This review was organized to offer insight into the potential utility of electrospinning approaches in the construction of PANI-based chemoresistive sensors for gaseous ammonia. The reliability of diverse electrospun PANI-based sensing systems for ammonia was assessed based on a comprehensive evaluation of their performance with respect to key sensing parameters (e.g., sensitivity, selectivity, response time, and limit of detection).