Preparation and Gas‐Sensitive Response Properties of a Novel P( <scp>MMA</scp> ‐Co‐ <scp>AN</scp> )/ <scp>GNPs</scp> ‐ <scp>VTES</scp> Composites as a Gas Sensor

ABSTRACT Vinyltriethoxysilane (VTES) was used as a modifier to introduce the vinyl double bond of vinyltriethysilane onto the graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) as active sites for polymerization reaction, and the modified GNPs (GNPs‐VTES) were prepared. Last, methyl methacrylate (MMA) and acrylonitrile (AN) were used as polymerization monomers, GNPs–VTES with CC double bond as the polymerization active point are chemically–covalently coated with P(MMA‐co‐AN) by an in situ emulsion polymerization route, and the composite of P(MMA‐co‐AN)/GNPs‐VTES was prepared. The structure of the synthesized composites was characterized by FT‐IR, XPS, TGA, SEM, TEM, and the results showed that P(MMA‐co‐AN) coated on the surface of GNPs. The results of the gas‐sensitive response test showed that the conductive composite had a strong response behavior to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as methanol, acetone and acetonitrile, especially to methanol. The gas‐sensitive composite has the characteristics of fast response and good stability. There are two aspects of the gas‐sensitive response mechanism: on the one hand, it is caused by the expansion effect of conductive networks generated by similar phase dissolution, and on the other hand, it is caused by the interactions between gas molecules and a GNPs layer, such as charge transfer that gives a change in an electrical signal.