Issue 4, 2024

n-Type boron β-diketone-containing conjugated polymers for high-performance room temperature ammonia sensors

Abstract

Organic semiconductor (OSC) gas sensors with good mechanical flexibility have received considerable attention as commercial and wearable devices. However, due to poor resistance to moisture and low conductivity, the improvement in the sensing capability of individual OSCs is limited. Reported here is a promising pathway to construct a series of conjugated organic polymers (COPs) with well-defined pyrimidine (Py-COP) or boron β-diketone (BF-COP) units. Unlike traditional metal- or carbon-based hybrid materials, the developed COPs can provide abundant absorption sites for gaseous analytes. As a result, the as-prepared BF-COP results in an excellent sensing response of over 1500 (Ra/Rg) toward 40 ppm of NH3 at room temperature, which is the highest value among those of pristine COPs as n-type sensing materials. Notably, they can maintain their initial sensing responses for two months and 90% relative humidity resistance. Combining the results of in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and theoretical calculations, the β-diketone skeleton is found to activate the surface electronic environment, verifying that the electron-deficient B ← O groups are adsorption centers. The B/N-heterocyclic decoration effectively modulates the redox properties and electronic interactions, as well as perturbs charge transfer in typical π-conjugated COPs. These results offer insight into developing highly efficient OSC gas sensors, which potentially have broadened sensing applications in the areas of organoboron chemistry.

Graphical abstract: n-Type boron β-diketone-containing conjugated polymers for high-performance room temperature ammonia sensors

  • This article is part of the themed collection: #MyFirstMH

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
01 oct. 2023
Accepted
29 nov. 2023
First published
30 nov. 2023

Mater. Horiz., 2024,11, 1023-1031

n-Type boron β-diketone-containing conjugated polymers for high-performance room temperature ammonia sensors

W. Song, J. Sun, Q. Wang, H. Wu, K. Zheng, B. Wang, Z. Wang and X. Long, Mater. Horiz., 2024, 11, 1023 DOI: 10.1039/D3MH01596C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements