Multiple conducting polymer microwire sensors

In this work, conducting polymer microwires of three commonly used conducting polymers were fabricated simultaneously on a common substrate using an intermediate-layer lithography (ILL) method. The three conducting polymers under consideration were polypyrrole (PPy), sulphonated polyaniline (SPANI) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophen)-poly(4-styrenesulphonate) (PEDOT-PSS). The fabricated microwires were implemented as sensing elements in detecting humidity and two organic vapors (i.e., methanol and acetone). The sensitivity of a single PPy microwire was compared with a rectangular PPy film after both were exposed to 45–85% humidity. The microwire sensor, due to its higher surface-to-volume ratio, was found to be more sensitive than the film sensor at low levels of humidity (between 45 and 58%). Beyond 58% humidity, the responses of the film and microwire sensors were similar. Three different sets of conducting polymer microwires (of PPy, SPANI and PEDOT) were then fabricated and employed as sensors to detect methanol, acetone and their mixtures. These microwires exhibited wave-like responses when they were exposed to these targets. The PPy and PEDOT microwires showed higher sensitivities in detecting methanol and acetone, respectively. The SPANI microwires exhibited similar responses in detecting methanol and acetone. The results demonstrate that microwire sensors were more effective than film sensors in detecting little quantities of target molecules. A sensor platform which integrates multiple microwire detectors is promising to detect multiple targets, and it also provides more information in detecting and distinguishing targets.