A flexible pH sensor based on polyaniline@oily polyurethane/polypropylene spunbonded nonwoven fabric

Abstract

To fabricate a two-electrode flexible pH sensor based on polypropylene spunbonded nonwoven fabric (PP SF), oily polyurethane (OPU) was first coated on the surface of PP SF to obtain OPU/PP SF. Then, silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) paste, used as the reference electrode and conductive carbon (C) paste were transferred to the OPU/PP SF surface through screen printing. Polyaniline (PANI) was deposited on the surface of the C paste to form a sensing working electrode via the electro-chemical deposition method. The results showed that the surface of the obtained PANI@OPU/PP SF flexible pH sensor (3D PANI pH sensor) presented a three-dimensional (3D) porous network structure. The 3D PANI pH sensor had good mechanical properties, an excellent Nernst response (−67.67 mV pH⁻¹) and linearity (R² = 0.99) in the pH range from 2.00 to 8.00 in the normal state. In the bent state, the 3D PANI pH sensor retained similar sensitivity (−68.87 mV pH⁻¹) and linearity (R² = 0.99). Moreover, the 3D PANI pH sensor exhibited a short response time (8 s), excellent reversibility (1.20 mV), low temperature drift (−0.0872 mV pH⁻¹ °C⁻¹) and long-term stability (0.83 mV h⁻¹) in the normal state. Furthermore, the 3D PANI pH sensor can be effectively applied for pH monitoring of liquids and fruits with irregular curved surfaces. The error margin is no more than 0.16 compared to a commercial pH meter.