Cholesteric liquid crystal-carbon nanotube hybrid architectures for gas detection

The ability of a hybrid material that is based on cholesteric liquid crystal and carbon nanotube to detect acetone vapor is investigated. We find that the phase transition in this cholesteric liquid crystal-carbon nanotube hybrid will enable carbon nanotube to form conducting networks under the higher vapor concentration. This cholesteric liquid crystal-carbon nanotube hybrid exhibits an obvious change in reflected color and electrical resistance in the early and later stages of gas diffusion, respectively. This hybrid architecture has potential application as a gas sensor with a high dynamic range.