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Characterization of a sulfonated polycarbonate resistive humidity sensor.
Carla P L Rubinger1, Hallen D R Calado, Rero M Rubinger
1Departamento de Física e Química, Instituto de Ciências, Universidade Federal de Itajubá, Itajubá-MG, Brazil. carlarubinger@yahoo.com.br
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
|February 7, 2013
Summary
Sulfonated polycarbonate (SPC) was used to create resistive moisture sensors. These sensors demonstrated a significant impedance change across various relative humidity levels, showing promise for humidity detection.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Chemical Engineering
- Sensor Technology
Background:
- Polycarbonate is a versatile polymer with potential applications in sensor technology.
- Developing cost-effective and efficient humidity sensors is crucial for environmental monitoring and industrial processes.
- Sulfonation enhances the functional properties of polymers for specific applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To fabricate resistive moisture sensors using sulfonated polycarbonate (SPC).
- To investigate the humidity sensing properties of SPC-based sensors.
- To evaluate the potential of SPC as a material for simple and cheap humidity sensors.
Main Methods:
- Dip coating of sulfonated polycarbonate onto silver interdigitated electrodes.
- Sulfonation of commercial polycarbonate using acetyl sulphate to achieve 9.0 and 18.0 mole % sulfonation degrees.
- Impedance spectroscopy to analyze sensor performance in controlled relative humidity (RH%) environments (11-90% RH).
Main Results:
- Resistive moisture sensors were successfully fabricated using SPC.
- Sensor impedance exhibited an exponential decay with increasing relative humidity.
- The highest sulfonated sample (18SPC) showed a broad operating range (11-90% RH) with significant impedance change (4.7 MΩ to 18 kΩ).
- Dielectric relaxation responses were observed, with 18SPC showing response across the entire measured RH range.
Conclusions:
- Sulfonated polycarbonate is a promising material for fabricating simple and affordable humidity sensors.
- The developed sensors demonstrate effective performance for assessing environmental relative humidity.
- Further research can explore optimizing SPC for enhanced sensor characteristics.
