Reporting their results in the journal Nanotechnology, researchers have developed plasmonically coupled light-sensitive skins of nanocrystal monolayers that exhibit sensitivity enhancement and spectral range extension thanks to metallic nanostructures embedded in the photosensitive nanocrystal platform.

1. A CO 2 Sensor with Polymer Composites Operating at Ordinary Temperature |
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Many CO 2 sensors proposed to date require high operation temperature (e.g., 400°C for
solid electrolytes) to detect CO 2 with a high sensitivity, which restricts the wide
application of CO 2 sensors.
We have found that composites consisting of the emeraldine base polyaniline (EB PAn)‐ ‐
and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) serve as a promising CO 2 sensor operating at room
temperature with a high sensitivity. The logarithm of electrical conductivity of the EB‐
PAn/PVA composite is proportional to the log of CO 2 concentration. For the composite
with 13 wt % EB PAn and 87 wt % PVA, the linear relationship holds in the concentration‐
range from 50 ppm to 5% at 30% relative humidity. This composite is insulating in a moist
atmosphere without CO 2.
With the addition of CO 2, however, carbonate ions are formed by the hydrolysis of CO 2,
and these ions equilibrate with the atmospheric CO 2. The carbonic acid is reversibly
incorporated to and ejected from the EB PAn depending on the concentration of‐
atmospheric CO 2, and the conductivity varies between conducting and insulating levels.
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