One‐step electrosynthesis of a nanocomposite of functionalized graphene and polypyrrole for enhanced room‐temperature nitrogen oxide sensing

Abstract Due to the numerous challenges related to selectivity, sensitivity, stability, and operation at standard room temperature, improving the environmental detection of nitrogen oxide presents a considerable defy in the development of novel promising structures in chemical detection. In this study, a new series of p‐type heterojunction nanocomposites based on electrodeposited polypyrrole (PPy) doped with n‐dodecylbenzene sulphonate and either reduced graphene oxide (PPy/RedGO) or reduced graphene oxide functionalized using aryl 4‐carboxybenzene diazonium salt (PPy/RedGO‐arylCOOH) was synthetized using a one‐step chronoamperometric process. The influence of functionalized graphene incorporation on the structural, morphological, and sensory performances of the PPy film was investigated. Its sensitivity and reactivity to NO 2 sensing were studied. The structural data confirms that PPy/RedGO‐arylCOOH film is a homogeneous nanocomposite with improved crystalline ordering. It shows optimal NO 2 sensing properties compared to the PPy/RedGO composite in terms of sensitivity (0.87 ppm −1 ), detection limit (2 ppm), response time of 29 s, recovery time of 40 s and reproducibility at room temperature.