Sains Malaysiana 43(6)(2014): 903–908

Pressure Sensitive Organic Sensor Based on CNT-VO2(3fl) Composite

(Pengesan Organik Sensitif Tekanan Berasaskan Komposit CNT- VO2 (3fl))

ADAM KHAN¹, KH. S. KARIMOV¹, ZUBAIR AHMAD³*, KHAULAH SULAIMAN³,

MUTABAR SHAH² & S.A. MOIZ⁴

¹GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences & Technology, Topi 23640, KPK, Pakistan

²Institute of Physics and Electronics, University of Peshawar, 25120, Peshawar, KPK

Pakistan

³Low Dimensional Materials Research Center, Department of Physics, University of Malaya,

50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

⁴Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Islamic Arch.,

Umm-ul-Qura University, P.O Box: 5555, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Received: 1 April 2013/Accepted: 31 December 2013

ABSTRACT

In this paper,  fabrication and investigation of organic pressure sensor based on Al/CNT-VO₂ (3fl)/Cu composite is reported. The active layer of the composite was deposited by drop-casting of the blend CNT-VO₂ (3fl) on a glass substrate (with prefabricated copper (Cu) electrode). The thin film of the blend consists of carbon nanotube CNT, (2.55 wt. %) and vanadium oxide (VO₂ (3fl)) micropowder, (3 wt. %) in benzol (1 mL). The thickness of the composite was in the range of 20-40 μm. It was found that the fabricated sensor was sensitive to pressure and showed good repeatability. The decrease in resistance of the sensor was observed by increasing the external uniaxial pressure up to 50 kNm-2. The experimentally obtained results were compared with the simulated results and showed reasonable agreement with each other.

Keywords: Carbon nanotube; pressure sensor; resistance; vanadium oxide

ABSTRAK

Fabrikasi dan kajian terhadap pengesan tekanan organik berasaskan bahan komposit Al/CNT-VO₂ (3fl)/Cu dilaporkan dalam kertas ini. Lapisan aktif komposit ini dihasilkan melalui proses tuangan-titisan bagi adunan CNT-VO₂ (3fl) ke atas substrat kaca (dengan pra-fabrikasi elektrod kuprum (Cu). Filem nipis adunan ini mengandungi tiubnano karbon CNT (2.55 %bt) dan vanadium okisda (VO₂ (3fl)) serbukmikro, (3 %bt) dalam benzol (1 mL). Ketebalan bagi filem komposit ialah dalam julat 20-40 μm. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa pengesan ini adalah senstif terhadap tekanan dan menunjukkan kebolehulangan yang baik. Kerintangan pengesan didapati menurun apabila nilai tekanan ekapaksi luaran ditingkatkan sehingga 50 kNm-2. Perbandingan antara keputusan uji kaji dengan simulasi telah menunjukkan wujud persetujuan antara kedua-duanya.

Kata kunci: Pengesan tekanan; rintangan; tiubnano karbon; vanadium oksida

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*Corresponding author; email: zubairtarar@um.edu.my