Electrospun Conducting Polymer-Based Sensors for Advanced Pathogen Detection

Abstract

This paper focuses on the development of conducting polymer hybrid sensors for pathogen detection for advanced medical diagnostics. Using the electrospinning technique, polyaniline hybrids were developed for the detection of gas and for pH monitoring to determine the suitability of these sensors for exhaled human breath analyses. Results show that electrospun hybrids based on leucoemeraldine based polyaniline exhibit sensitivity to down to 1 ppm and for the first time, using emeraldine salt polyaniline, demonstrate a conductimetric response to changes in the headspace of aqueous solutions of varying pH. This manuscript discusses the response of these hybrid systems to varying concentrations of pH and NO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> .