Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 May 2012
Methanol sensing characteristics of conducting polypyrrole-silver nanocomposites are reported here. The nanocomposites are synthesized by wet chemical technique with different amount of silver loadings (5–15 mol%). The sensitivity of the nanocomposites upon exposure to gas molecules is critically dependent on the silver loadings and the concentration of the exposed gas. This is possibly instigated by the modified metal-polymer interface and the polar nature of the constituent metal and the exposed gas. Interaction of the alcohol gas with the polypyrrole chains in the presence of silver effectively determines the change in resistance and hence the sensitivity of the nanocomposites upon exposure to methanol. The adsorption of methanol molecules within the nanocomposites and the subsequent chemical reactions are studied by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.