Seok Chang Kang

Improved Sensitivity of an NO Gas Sensor by Chemical Activation of Electrospun Carbon Fibers

A novel electrode for an NO gas sensor was fabricated from electrospun polyacrylonitrile fibers by thermal treatment to obtain carbon fibers followed by chemical activation to enhance the activity of gas adsorption sites. The activation process improved the porous structure, increasing the specific surface area and allowing for efficient gas adsorption. The gas sensing ability and response time were improved by the increased surface area and micropore fraction. High performance gas sensing was then demonstrated by following a proposed mechanism based on the activation effects. Initially, the pore structure developed by activation significantly increased the amount of adsorbed gas, as shown by the high sensitivity of the gas sensor. Additionally, the increased micropore fraction enabled a rapid sensor response time due to improve the adsorption speed. Overall, the sensitivity for NO gas was improved approximately six-fold, and the response time was reduced by approximately 83% due to the effects of chemical activation.

Effects of improved porosity and electrical conductivity on pitch-based carbon nanofibers for high-performance gas sensors

Pitch-based carbon fibers with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were fabricated via an electrospinning method and used as gas sensor electrodes. The pitch-based carbon fibers were treated at various temperatures to investigate the effect of the reaction temperature. The electrospun fibers were thermally treated to produce carbon fibers, and the resulting material was chemically activated to increase the number of active sites for efficient gas adsorption. The activation process improved the porous structure by increasing the specific surface area by approximately 86-fold. Due to the improved porosity and electrical conductivity, gas adsorption sites were enlarged and electron transfer was improved, resulting in a high-performance NO gas sensor with improved sensitivity and rapid response time. The improved porosity was attributed to the chemical activation process, and the enhanced electrical conductivity was attributed to the heat treatment and the addition of MWCNTs.