PANI-Ag-Cu Nanocomposite Thin Films Based Impedimetric Microbial Sensor for Detection of E. coli Bacteria

PANI-Ag-Cu nanocomposite thin films were prepared by sol-gel method and deposited on the glass substrate using spin coating technique. Polyaniline was synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline monomer in the presence of nitric acid. The films were characterized using XRD, FTIR, and UV-Visible spectroscopy. The performance of the sensor was conducted using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to obtain the change in impedance of the sensor film before and after incubation with E. coli bacteria in water. The peaks in XRD pattern confirm the presence of Ag and Cu nanoparticles in face-centered cubic structure. FTIR analysis shows the stretching of N–H in the polyaniline structure. The absorption band from UV-Visible spectroscopy shows high peaks between 400 nm and 500 nm which indicate the presence of Ag and Cu nanoparticles, respectively. Impedance analysis indicates that the change in impedance of the films decreases with the presence of E. coli. The sensitivity on E. coli increases for the sample with high concentration of Cu.