Straightforward Synthesis and Evaluation of Polymeric Sensing Materials for Acetone Detection

Abstract

Three polymeric materials (polyaniline, polypyrrole, and poly(methyl methacrylate)) have been selected, prepared and evaluated for potential use in acetone sensing (for possible diabetes-related applications). Of the materials studied, polyaniline and polypyrrole showed the most promise. Polypyrrole allowed for more acetone sorption (i.e., higher concentration of acetone sorbed), but did not distinguish between different target analytes (that is, it was not selective). A material’s ability to distinguish between several gas analytes simultaneously (in a gas mixture) is rarely evaluated; selectivity is typically based on a ‘one-analyte-at-a-time’ investigation. However, comparison of acetone sorption (in one experimental test) and interferent sorption (in a complementary experimental test) does not consider interactions that might occur between gas analytes; this motivates the sorption analysis of gas mixtures that is shown in this work. The most promising results were obtained when polyaniline or polypyrrole was exposed to acetone-rich gas mixtures with low amounts of acetaldehyde, ethanol and benzene (interferent gases). Polymer doping using three metal oxides (SnO2, WO3 and ZnO) was also investigated, but metal oxide addition had a limited effect on the sorption performance. This was true for all three metal oxides, regardless of the amount of doping (over the range studied; up to 20 wt%).