Optical and electrochemical properties of a composite material based on PEDOT: PSS and oriented nickel fibers
The paper presents the results of electrochemical and conductometric studies of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) and composite material PEDOT: PSS/oriented nickel fibers in the presence of carbon dioxide. It has been shown that the introduction of oriented nickel fibers into the PEDOT: PSS polymer matrix improves the electrochemical properties of the polymer. The nickel fibers in the polymer bulk act as a catalyst and thus shift the PEDOT: PSS reduction peak towards positive potentials. Gas sensing elements for a conductometric sensor were fabricated by depositing PEDOT: PSS and composite films PEDOT: PSS/oriented nickel fibers on the surface of a glass substrate with interdigitated gold electrodes. Special equipment was designed to study the sensory properties of gas-sensitive elements. Using this equipment, we measured the sensory response Rr and the response time \ (\tau\)0.9 of finished gas-sensitive elements in a carbon dioxide environment. Conductometric studies have shown that the response time \ (\tau\)0.9 of the composite material to CO2 is shorter, and the sensory response Rr is twice as long as compared to a pure PEDOT: PSS film. As a result of the generalization of the experimental data, the possibility of using the composite material PEDOT-PSS/oriented nickel fibers to create electrochemical and conductometric sensors for carbon dioxide was shown.