Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensitivity Enhancement Based on Protonated Polyaniline Films Doped by Aluminum Nitrate

Complex composite films based on polyaniline (PANI) doped hydrochloric acid (HCl) incorporated with aluminum nitrate (Al(NO(3))(3)) on Au-layer were designed and synthesized as a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing device. The physicochemical properties of (PANI-HCl)/Al(NO(3))(3) complex composite films were studied for various Al(NO(3))(3) concentrations (0, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 wt.%). The refractive index of the (PANI-HCl)/Al(NO(3))(3) complex composite films increased continuously as Al(NO(3))(3) concentrations increased. The electrical conductivity values increased from 5.10 µS/cm to 10.00 µS/cm as Al(NO(3))(3) concentration increased to 32 wt.%. The sensitivity of the SPR sensing device was investigated using a theoretical approach and experimental measurements. The theoretical system of SPR measurement confirmed that increasing Al(NO(3))(3) in (PANI-HCl)/Al(NO(3))(3) complex composite films enhanced the sensitivity from about 114.5 [Deg/RIU] for Au-layer to 159.0 [Deg/RIU] for Au-((PANI-HCl)/Al(NO(3))(3) (32 wt.%)). In addition, the signal-to-noise ratio for Au-layer was 3.95, which increased after coating by (PANI-HCl)/Al(NO(3))(3) (32 wt.%) complex composite layer to 8.82. Finally, we conclude that coating Au-layer by (PANI-HCl)/Al(NO(3))(3) complex composite films enhances the sensitivity of the SPR sensing device.