Fabrication and characterization of polysilsesquioxanes nanocomposites based chemical sensor

In this work, we investigate amperometric chemical sensor devices based on polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) nanocomposites. Devices, fabricated spinning the polymer on a substrate (glass, alumina), have been tested vs. ammonia, VOC and humidity. The devices exhibit a very strong, nicely reversible, response to water vapour. The operating mechanism at the base of the observed phenomena is explained in terms of a resonant charge transfer within the POSS cages enhanced by the water presence. The effect of the incorporation of other fillers such as carbon and zinc, has been also investigated in view of their possible use to improve sensor selectivity.