Boron nitride/carbon nanotube composite paper for self-activated chemiresistive detection

• Published in: Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical Vol. 355; p. 131273
• Main Authors: Lim, Guh-Hwan, Bae, Seonhee, Kim, Yong-Jae, Lee, Kyu Seung, Cho, Hyunjin, Park, Young Jae, Lee, Hong-Soo, Kim, Sung-Hwan, Kim, Sooyeon, Chung, Hee-Suk, Yun, Yong Ju, Kim, Kayoung, Kim, Chulki, Seo, Jong-Su, Moon, Hi Gyu, Son, Dong Ick
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 15.03.2022; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Boron; Boron nitride; Boron-nitride/carbon nanotube hybrid; Carbon; Carbon nanotubes; Chemical reactions; Chemiresistive sensor; Component reliability; Environmental monitoring; Finite element method; Fully-recovered CNT sensor; Nitrogen dioxide; NO2 sensor; Operating temperature; Sensors; Smart materials; Thermal stability; Thermodynamic properties; NO2 sensor; Fully-recovered CNT sensor; Chemiresistive sensor; Boron-nitride/carbon nanotube hybrid
• ISSN: 0925-4005; 1873-3077
• DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2021.131273

Carbon nanotube buckypaper has been considered as one of the promising candidates for chemiresistive sensor applications, especially with environmental monitoring purpose due to large surface area, device flexibility, and the broad spectrum of responsive chemical vapor molecules. However, one of typical drawbacks in carbon-based sensors is incomplete recovery to their initial state after chemical reactions with analytes, degrading sensing reproducibility. In this work, we present a thermally stable and robust boron nitride nanotube/carbon nanotube (BNCNT) hybrid paper for self-enhanced chemiresistive sensing with full reversibility. Boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) plays an essential role in long-term reliability (33 days) at the operating temperature of 200 °C. In addition, a finite-element method was applied to understand the thermal behavior of the BNCNT network structure. The BNCNT paper-based chemiresisitve sensor exhibited highly sensitive, selective, and fully reversible responses to NO2 without external heating. Also, the sensor demonstrated the detection limit of parts per billion (ppb)-levels under strain with high reliability. With these remarkable strengths, significantly facile and cost-effective fabrication processes provide an environmental sensing platform for use in smart clothing with wearable electronics. •Boron nitride nanotube/carbon nanotube (BNCNT)-based chemiresistive sensor with full reversibility was developed.•The BNCNT paper exhibits a highly sensitive detection to NO2 at room temperature.•The detection limit (DL) is 3.41 parts per billion (ppb) even under strained conditions with high reliability.•The BNCNT papers maintained its self-enhanced temperature of 200 °C during a long-term stability test for 33 days.•The BNNT plays a major role in the long-term reliability of maintaining a temperature of CNT networks.