title: Growth and toxic gas sensing properties of poly(urethaneimide) thin films.
abstract: In this work we present a study on the growth and the gas sensing properties of poly(urethane imide) thin films. We first deeply characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) the nanostructuration of the poly(urethane imide) holding different amine groups. We further studied the interaction between highly toxic gases such as hexamethyleneimine (HMI) and pyridine and the polymer by using an unconventional method based on Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) measurement. We showed for the first time that weak interactions, i.e. hydrogen bonding between the gas molecules and the polymer film allow the diffusion of the gas molecule deep in the polymeric film and the recovery of the film once the gas molecules leave the sensor. This first work paves a new way for the design of a completely recoverable sensor able to detect highly toxic gases for environmental concern.
authors.affiliation: Institut Jean Lamour (IJL), UMR CNRS 7198, Université de Lorraine, Parc de Saurupt CS50840, 54011 Nancy, France; Laboratoire de Chimie Physique Macromoléculaire (LCPM), UMR CNRS-INPL 7568, Nancy Université, ENSIC, 1 rue Grandville, BP 20451, 54 001 Nancy Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Ismail Ben
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Youssef
authors.affiliation: Institut Jean Lamour (IJL), UMR CNRS 7198, Université de Lorraine, Parc de Saurupt CS50840, 54011 Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Frederic
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sarry
authors.affiliation: Université catholique de Louvain, Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences, Bio & Soft Matter, Croix du Sud 1/L7.04.02, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nysten
authors.affiliation: Sofia University, Department of Solid State Physics and Microelectronics, 5 J. Bourchier blvd, 1164 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Gergana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alexieva
authors.affiliation: Sofia University, Department of Solid State Physics and Microelectronics, 5 J. Bourchier blvd, 1164 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Vesselin
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Strashilov
authors.affiliation: Medical University Varna, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmaceutical Management, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Iliyan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kolev
authors.affiliation: Institut Jean Lamour (IJL), UMR CNRS 7198, Université de Lorraine, Parc de Saurupt CS50840, 54011 Nancy, France. Electronic address: Halima.alem@univ-lorraine.fr.
authors.forename: Halima
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alem
keywords: Functional polyurethanes; Gas micro-sensor; Nano-structuration; Sensitive layer