Silver interdigitated electrode fabrication on a kapton substrate coated with multiwalled carbon nanotubes as a sensor element for methane sensing

In this study, we report a sensor fabrication for detecting methane in ppm level using multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The proposed reversible chemo-resistive methane sensor is fabricated using a Kapton substrate on which interdigitated silver electrodes are printed using piezo headbased ink-jet printing technology. Then, CNTs are coated on the silver electrodes printed on Kapton using thick film technology. The increase in electrical resistance of the sensor element is measured on exposure to methane for different concentrations, and data are acquired using a data acquisition system. The increase in the resistance of the calibrated sensor element on exposure to methane is approximately 23.4% at room temperature for 130 ppm methane concentration. This change is reversible. The rise and fall times are 3 and 60 s, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of methane detection using MWCNTs coated on a Kapton substrate. Copyright © 2015 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved.