Design of Sorbent Hydrogen Bond Acidic Polycarbosilanes for Chemical Sensor Applications

New hydrogen bond acidic polycarbosilanes have been developed for chemical sensing applications. The sorptive properties of the functionalized polycarbosilanes have been evaluated on a number of chemical sensing platforms including surface acoustic wave resonators, single wall carbon nanotube sensors and an Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer. The hydrogen bond acidic nature of the polymers makes them highly sorbent toward basic vapors such as organophosphonates and polynitroaromatics.