Study of the influence of oxidising salt on conducting polymer sensor properties

Abstract Conducting polymer sensors obtained by vapour phase polymerisation are suitable for odour recognition. This work investigates the influence of the precursor oxidising salt on the sensing properties of the polymer and the possibility of producing different sensors from the same monomer polymerised onto different salts. Twenty salts obtained from several metals via exposure to oxidising agents in gas phase have been tested and a set of three salts whose properties are compatible with our dry technique has been selected. The sensors grown on these salts using a monomer of the class of alkoxythiophenes show different sensitivities to a test vapour in terms of percentage variation of resistance.