Room temperature flexible NH3 sensor based on polyaniline coated Rh-doped SnO2 hollow nanotubes

In this work, polyaniline (PANI) coated Rh-doped SnO 2 hollow nanotubes (PRS) were synthesized via electrostatic spinning and in-situ polymerization technique. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffractometer, Field emission scanning electron microscopy, Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller. The gas sensing performances of the sensors based on PRS nanotubes were investigated systematically at room temperature. It was shown that the polyaniline coated 0.5 mol% Rh-doped SnO 2 nanotube (PRS0.5) sensor exhibited the highest response value of 13.6 to 100 ppm NH 3 at room temperature with excellent selectivity, acceptable repeatability and favorable flexibility. The enhanced gas sensing performances were due to the morphology structure, the heterojunction between PANI and Rh-SnO 2 and the catalytic effect of Rh 2 O 3 . Thus, the PANI coated Rh-doped SnO 2 hollow nanotubes could be a promising candidate for designing and fabricating flexible NH 3 gas sensor at room temperature.