Electrically conductive polyaniline-titanium(IV)molybdophosphate cation exchange nanocomposite: Synthesis, characterization and alcohol vapour sensing properties

Electrically conductive polyaniline-titanium(IV)molybdophosphate (PANI-TMP) cation exchange nanocomposite was studied as sensing material for aliphatic alcohols (methanol, ethanol and 1-propanol) at room temperature. The nanocomposite was synthesized by sol–gel mixing of polyaniline (PANI) into inorganic precipitate of titanium(IV)molybdophosphate (TMP) and characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The composite showed good ion-exchange capacity, electrical conductivity and resistivity response towards alcohol vapours. It was observed that the sensor show good reversible response towards methanol vapours compared to ethanol and 1-propanol vapours. These studies suggest that the nanocomposite cation exchanger could be a good sensing material for methanol vapours at room temperature (25 °C).