Study on the Relationship between Structure of Supramolecular Ion Material and Performance of Humidity Sensing

Authors

Hui-min TANG, 1. Key Laboratory of Environmental Friendly Chemistry and Applications of Ministry of Education,; College of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, Hunan 411105, China; 2. Beijing National;
Hai-long YAN, College of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, Hunan 411105, China; 2. Beijing National;
Li ZHANG, College of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, Hunan 411105, China; 2. Beijing National;
Jun-jie FEI, 1. Key Laboratory of Environmental Friendly Chemistry and Applications of Ministry of Education,;Follow
Ping YU, Center for Advanced Analytical Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong, P. R. China;Follow
Lan-qun MAO, College of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, Hunan 411105, China; 2. Beijing National;

Corresponding Author

Jun-jie FEI(fei_junjie@xtu.edu.cn);
Ping YU(yuping@iccas.ac.cn)

Abstract

Humidity measurement and control is one of the most notable issues in various areas, such as climate, industry,
agriculture, electronics, especially human comfort and health. In our previous study, we have found that a new kind of supramolecular
ionic material (SIM), consisting of an imidazolium-based dication (e.g., 1,10-bis(3-methylimidazolium-1-yl) decane, C₁₀(mim)₂) and
electroactive dianionic (e.g., 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), ABTS), shows ultrasensitive and ultrafast
response towards humidity sensing. Herein we prepared six kinds of imidazolium-based dications with different carbon chain
lengths (i.e., C₄, C₆, C₈, C₁₀, C₁₂, C₁₄), and found that three of them (i.e., C₁₀, C₁₂, C₁₄) could form water-stable SIM with ABTS. Cyclic
voltammetry, chronoamperometry and quartz crystal microbalance were used to characterize the humidity sensing performance of
these supramolecular ionic materials. The results show that the C₁₂-based SIM has the best humidity sensing performance compared
with the other two kinds of SIM. Moreover, SEM images show that the thickness of the ionic material became thinner with the
increase of the carbon chain length. We, thus, conclude that both the hydrophobic interaction and the specific surface area of SIMs
would contribute to the performance of humidity response. This paper would lay the foundation for the development of new ionic
compound for humidity sensing.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

supramolecular ionic material, imidazolium, humidity sensing

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.13208/j.electrochem.181049

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Publication Date

2019-06-28

Online Available Date

2019-03-01

Revised Date

2019-02-17

Received Date

2018-12-16

Recommended Citation

Hui-min TANG, Hai-long YAN, Li ZHANG, Jun-jie FEI, Ping YU, Lan-qun MAO. Study on the Relationship between Structure of Supramolecular Ion Material and Performance of Humidity Sensing[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, 2019 , 25(3): 319-325.
DOI: 10.13208/j.electrochem.181049
Available at: https://jelectrochem.xmu.edu.cn/journal/vol25/iss3/4