Carboxyl functionalized carbon nanofibers as active sensing material for detection of benzene

Carbon nanofibers (CNF) have been exhibited to be one of the most desirable material for gas sensing. This research applies a simple and low-cost method for the detection of benzene at room temperature. CNF was functionalized using sulphonitric mixture to attach carboxyl functional group to CNF as active site for interaction between gas analyte and sensing material. The flexible gas sensor demonstrated high sensitivities of 23.64 % at room temperature for ambient benzene gas concentration of 0.125 %, respectively. Moreover, the gas response of CNF-based resistivity sensor is being caused by p-type conductivity in the Au-modified semiconducting substrate. The recovery time, repeatability and reusability of sensor to gas concentration are demonstrated, indicating a major improvement towards the low-cost large-scale production of this type of device.