Abstract:
Recently, rapid, quick and in-situ phthalate
detection methods have gained significant attention over already
existing complex, sophisticated phthalate detecting techniques.
In this study, an easy to-use sensing material was developed by
incorporating multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in a
silver modified cellulose matrix. The conductive sensing
material was fabricated as a composite paper, and its electrical
conductivity was duly confirmed. With the adsorption of
phthalate owing to the formation of phi-phi interactions, the
conductivity of the composite decreased. The reduction of
conductivity of the composite papers was measured using four
probe conductivity meter. The morphology of the sensing
material was studied using scanning electron spectroscopy while
Raman analysis was conducted to determine phthalate
adsorption to MWCNT. The developed sensing material shows
the ability to distinguish phthalate molecules qualitatively.
Using the simple four-probe conductivity technique, the
composite paper can quantitatively determine phthalate content
in aqueous solutions down to 0.1 ppm.
Citation:
P. Anuchani, H. Abeysinghe and T. N. B. Etampawala, "Development of Conductive Sensing Material for Accurate Quantitative and Qualitative Detection of Phthalates in Aqueous Environments," 2023 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon), Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2023, pp. 78-83, doi: 10.1109/MERCon60487.2023.10355454.