A bulky aromatic functional polyimide composite as a sensitive layer for the detection of organic compound biomarkers

• Published in: Iranian polymer journal 2019-03, Vol.28 (3), p.203-211
• Main Authors: Molla-Abbasi, Payam, Shabanian, Meisam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetone; Biomarkers; Cancer; Ceramics; Chemical synthesis; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composites; Conductivity; Electron tunneling; Ethanol; Gas detectors; Gas sensors; Glass; Low concentrations; Lung cancer; Methanol; Multi wall carbon nanotubes; Natural Materials; Organic compounds; Original Research; Parameter sensitivity; Polymer matrix composites; Polymer Sciences; Polymers; Sensitivity analysis; Solubility parameters; Toluene; Water vapor
• ISSN: 1026-1265; 1735-5265
• DOI: 10.1007/s13726-019-00691-w

A conductive polymer composite (CPC) was designed as a gas sensor for the detection of lung cancer biomarkers. A poly(ether-imide) with aromatic bulky pendant groups was synthesized and used as a CPC transducer by introducing multi-walled carbon nanotubes for the detection of acetone, toluene, methanol, ethanol and water vapor as lung cancer biomarkers. The following trend in CPC response was observed for different vapors: A R (acetone) >  A R (toluene) >  A R (ethanol) >  A R (methanol) >  A R (water). The sensing ability of the conductive polymer composite towards the above biomarkers was evaluated based on Hansen solubility parameters of the analytes. The prepared sensitive layer showed a good sensitivity against a wide range of analytes with various polarities. The good sensitivity of designed sensitive layer was attributed to the non-polar –CH 3 groups besides the bulky aromatic pendant groups of the as-synthesized polymer. The aromatic pendant groups have established relatively strong attractions with the carbon nanotube (CNT) surfaces leading to the creation of significant active sites in the CNTs’ junctions. As a result of adsorption of the analyte molecules on those active sites, especially at low concentrations, the bulky aromatic groups were found much to improve the sensitivity of the prepared gas detector by affecting the electron tunneling of 3-D nano-conductive filler architecture. The experimental results illustrated that the synthesized CPC has a promising potential as a lung cancer biomarker detector.