Non-solvent induced phase separation as a method for making high-performance chemiresistors based on conductive polymer nanocomposites

The fabrication of novel porous conductive composite vapor sensors characterized by different porosities and specific surface areas is described in this study. These samples were obtained by the dry-cast non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) method. Porous composite structures have been studied by the SEM, BET and water evaporation methods. Testing different concentrations of several organic vapors, the porous sensors showed improved sensitivities and response times as compared to their dense counterpart. Improved characteristics of the sensor response were correlated to better sorption and diffusion properties of sensing film due to increased porosity and specific surface area obtained by this method of film fabrication. A competition theory was proposed that describes the optimum porosity and thickness of sensing films in which the highest sensitivities were observed.