Controllable synthesis of Co₃O₄/polyethyleneimine-carbon nanotubes nanocomposites for CO and NH₃ gas sensing at room temperature

Graphical abstract: Co₃O₄/polyethyleneimine-carbon nanotubes composites (CoPCNTs) have been successfully controllable synthesized via hydrothermal method at different temperature. The CoPCNTs sensors exhibited the highest response to CO and NH₃ gases with response time of 4 s and 4.3 s, low detection limit of 5 ppm and 1 ppm at room temperature, respectively. The enhanced gas sensing could be ascribed to the synergistic effect between the tiny size of Co₃O₄ and good conductivity of carbon nanotubes functionalized by polyethyleneimine. - Highlights: • The CNTs functionalized by polyethyleneimine provided a new functional structural. • The novel 1D structure could capture and migrate electrons quickly. • The Co₃O₄ nanoparticles liked a snake winding around CNTs. • The gas sensor could work at room temperatures, which suit to practical application. - Abstract: A novel 1D Co₃O₄/polyethyleneimine-carbon nanotubes composites (CoPCNTs) have been successfully synthesized via hydrothermal method at different temperature. The CNTs functionalized by polyethyleneimine (PCNTs) provided a new material with new structural and functional properties. The PCNTs was used as loading guider and electron transfer path. The Co₃O₄ nanoparticles (NPs) loaded on the PCNTs surface liked a snake winding around CNTs, and the size was about 5–10 nm. The gas sensing characteristics of the CoPCNTs sensors to carbon monoxide (CO) and ammonia (NH₃) were evaluated with different gas concentration. The CoPCNTs sensors grown at 160 °C exhibited the highest response to CO and NH₃ gases with response time of 4 s and 4.3 s at room temperature (RT), respectively. Hence, the approach developed in this work would be important for the low-cost and large-scale production of the CoPCNTs materials with highly promising applications in gas sensors