Humidity-sensing properties of chemically reduced graphene oxide/polymer nanocomposite film sensor based on layer-by-layer nano self-assembly

Chemically reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/poly(diallylimethyammonium chloride) (PDDA) nanocomposite film sensor with high-performance humidity properties was reported in this paper. The film sensor was fabricated on flexible polyimide substrate with interdigital microelectrodes structure. By the layer-by-layer nano self-assembly approach, graphene oxide and PDDA were exploited to form hierarchical nanostructure, and then was partially reduced via solution-based chemically reduction for obtaining both conductivity and chemically active defect sites. The effect of hydrobromic acid treatment on the conductivity properties of PDDA/GO film was examined, further verifying the advantage of hydrobromic acid reduction. The humidity sensing properties of the presented nanocomposite film sensor, such as repeatability, hysteresis, stability, response–recovery characteristics, were investigated by exposing to the wide relative humidity range of 11–97% at room temperature. As a result, the sensor exhibited not only excellent sensing behavior to humidity, but also fast response–recovery time and good repeatability, highlighting the unique advantages of layer-by-layer nano self-assembly for film sensors fabrication. As last, the possible humidity sensing mechanism of the proposed sensor was discussed in detail.