Reduced graphene oxide-polyaniline hybrid nanocomposite for selective sensing of ammonia gas at room temperature

A binary solvent system (DMSO + water) assisted swollen liquid crystalline lamellar mesophase (SLCLM) template is effectively used to produce the reduced graphene oxide-polyaniline (rGO-PANI) nanocomposite. The large surface area and 2D hybrid nanosheets of PANI and rGO collectively persuade, providing an anchor for the ammonia gas sensing process. The obtained gas sensing results demonstrate the synthesized rGO-PANI films exhibited the highest gas sensitivity, excellent repeatability, good linear gas concentration response, a low detection limit (200–1000 ppb), and an ultrahigh sensitivity of 32 %. The newly synthesized morphology of rGO-PANI nanocomposite may be one of the factors for the enhanced NH3 gas response. All characterization techniques, such as XRD, HR-TEM, XPS, FT-IR, and Raman spectroscopy, confirm the formation of the rGO-PANI hybrid nanocomposite. Furthermore, the NH3 gas sensitivity in the relative humidity range of 34 %–57 % showed only ∼1 % variation. The development of 2D nanosheets of hybrid rGO-PANI nanocomposite in SLCLM with enhanced gas sensing properties is significant for the future development of selective and sensitive RT ammonia sensors.