am9b03296_si_001.pdf (1.25 MB)
Hybrid Integration of Carbon Nanotubes and Transition Metal Dichalcogenides on Cellulose Paper for Highly Sensitive and Extremely Deformable Chemical Sensors
journal contribution
posted on 2019-05-07, 00:00 authored by Woo Sung Lee, Jungwook ChoiSensitive
and deformable chemical sensors manufactured by a low-cost
process are promising as they are disposable, can be applied on curved,
complex structures, and provide environmental information to users.
Although many nanomaterial-based flexible sensors have been suggested
to meet these demands, their limited chemical sensitivity and mechanical
flexibility pose challenges. Here, a highly deformable chemical sensor
is reported with improved sensitivity that integrates multiwalled
carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and nanolayered transition metal dichalcogenides
(TMDCs) on cellulose paper. Liquid dispersions of CNTs and TMDCs are
absorbed and dried on porous cellulose for sensor fabrication, which
is simple, scalable, rapid, and inexpensive. The cellulose substrate
enables reversible three-dimensional folding and unfolding, bending
down to 0.25 mm, and twisting up to 1800° (∼628.4 rad
m–1) without degradation, and the CNTs maintain
a percolation network and simultaneously provide gas reactivity. Functionalization
of CNTs with TMDCs (WS2 or MoS2) greatly improves
the sensing response upon exposure to NO2 molecules by
more than 150%, and the sensor can also selectively detect NO2 over diverse reducing vapors. The measured NO2 sensitivity is 4.57% ppm–1, which is much higher
than that of previous paper-based sensors. Our sensor can stably and
sensitively detect the gas even under severe deformation such as heavy
folding and crumpling. Hybrid integration of CNTs and TMDCs on cellulose
paper may also be used to detect other harmful gases and can be applicable
in low-cost portable devices that require reliable deformability.