Sensor Functionality of In Situ Synthesised Polyaniline - SnO 2 Hybrids towards Toluene Vapour

Polyaniline-SnO2 (PANI-SnO2 ) hybrid materials with varied SnO2 content were prepared by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization method. The prepared materials were characterized by FT-IR, XRD and SEM analyses. Sensitivity of the materials towards toluene was measured at room temperature from their conductivity change. The PANI-SnO2 composite with 40 wt.% SnO2 exhibited highest sensitivity. In situ synthesis enhanced the sensitivity of the materials over their physical mixture. This might be due to the formation of higher number of p-n heterojunctions during in situ synthesis.