Organic semiconductors-coated polyacrylonitrile （PAN） electrospun nanofibrous mats for highly sensitive chemosensors via evanescent-wave guiding effect

• Published in: 中国化学快报：英文版 2013 (7), p.643-646
• Main Author: Kang-Yi Hua Chang-Min Deng Chao He Li-Qi Shi De-Feng Zhu Qing-Guo He Jian-Gong Cheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: PAN; 化学传感器; 敏感; 有机半导体; 涂层; 纳米纤维膜; 聚丙烯腈; 静电纺丝
• ISSN: 1001-8417; 1878-5964

We report the first use of organic semiconductors （OSCs）-coated PAN nanofibrous mats as highly responsive fluorescence quenching-based chemosensors for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene （TNT） and H2O2 detection in vapor phase. Conjugated polymers, poly（triphenylaminealt-biphenylene vinylene） （TPA- PBPV）, and small organic molecules, l-horonic-ester pyrene and 1,6-bisboron-ester pyrene, were coated onto the nanofibers fabricated by electrospinning. By introducing the nanofibers structure, a 9-fold fluorescence intensity enhancement and a 14-fold sensitivity enhancement were achieved, which could be attributed to its high area-to-volume ratio, excellent gas permeability, and more importantly, the evanescent-wave effect occurred once the diameters of the fibers were small enough. Since the organic semiconductors coated onto the nanofibrous mats could be replaced by other functional materials, the nanofibers-enhanced detection strategies could be extended to more general domains including chemical and environmental detection.