Abstract

As Greenland’s ice is melting by a record amount with the concurrent increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, there is a concern for examining global warming in more detail. To control and keep the levels monitored, the precise measurement of greenhouse gases is desirable as there are interferences in the measurements. A novel method is developed to make sensors from conducting polymers. An Emeraldine Green (EG) – Graphene Quantum Dots (GQD) composite material is synthesized and used as the active material with enhanced sensing properties, owing to the larger surface area available. The active material is characterized to ensure the binding of the polymer and the GQD particles. A greenhouse gas sensor is designed and fabricated based on the electrochemical changes in the active material on exposure to greenhouse gases in a two-stage operation. In the first stage, the response of the interfering gases along with the analyte chosen is recorded and in the second stage, the thermal pulse is applied corresponding to the desorption energies of the interfering gases and could be used to isolate the interfering components. The sensor was tested on carbon dioxide gas with a response time of 46 seconds for a concentration of 200 ppm and shows negligible interference from methane gas at atmospheric concentrations.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Greenhouse gases--Measurement; Global warming--Greenland

Publication Date

7-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Materials Science and Engineering (MS)

Department, Program, or Center

School of Chemistry and Materials Science (COS)

Advisor

K. S. V. Santhanam

Advisor/Committee Member

Massoud Miri

Advisor/Committee Member

Hans Schmitthenner

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

MSENG-MS

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