Study of the gas optical sensing properties of Au-polyimide nanocomposite films prepared by ion implantation

Au-polyimide nanocomposites have been synthesized by implanting Au+ ions in pyromellitic dianhydride-4,4′ oxydianiline polyimide films prepared by glow discharge vapor deposition polymerisation (GDVDP). A structural and optical characterization shows that Au clusters grow only implanting 5 × 1016 Au+/cm2. This sample class shows interesting dynamic optical absorption sensing responses towards methanol and ethanol vapors in the spectral range corresponding to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak of the gold nanoparticles. Traditional surface plasmon resonance measurements performed onto virgin polyimide thin films in controlled atmosphere show a sensing activity due to a variation of the film thickness and of the real part of refractive index. The comparison of the results obtained onto virgin films and implanted ones suggests that the sensing mechanisms can be attributed both to the modification of polymer optical properties and to the chemical activity of gold nanoparticles.