An LC Passive Wireless Gas Sensor Based on PANI/CNT Composite

Abstract

This paper proposes a wireless passive gas sensor based on the principle of LC mutual coupling. After the acidification of the carbon nanotube (CNT), the in-situ polymerization of the aminobenzene monomers was conducted on the surface of the acidified CNT to form a sensitive material composed of a polyaniline/carbon nanotube (PANI/CNT) composite. The Advanced Design System (ADS) software was used for simulating and analyzing the designed structure, which obtained the various parameters of the structure. A lead-free aluminum paste was printed on an alumina ceramic substrate via the screen printing technique to form an inductor coil, before the gas sensitive material was applied to prepare a wireless passive gas sensor, consisting of a single-turn inductor and interdigitated electrodes on the base structure. Finally, an experimental platform was built to test the performance of the sensor. The sensitivity of the gas sensor is about 0.04 MHz/ppm in an atmosphere with a NH3 concentration of 300 ppm. The sensor was shown to have good repeatability and high stability over a long time period.