ORGANIC SEMI-CONDUCTIVE COMPOSITION AND SENSOR
USING THE SAME
[Field of the Invention]
The present invention relates to an organic semi-conductive agent
composition and sensor using the same, intended to be used for determining species
and content of organic compounds.
[Background of the Invention]
In case of organic compounds, it is impossible to verify their chemical
species with the naked eye or with a simple reagent, thus it needs to primarily, collect
and transfer samples to a lab, and decide their species by using an expensive gas
chromatography apparatus, for precise determination.
The above method includes some problems, for example: firstly, long
periods of time taken for determining their species as there is no way to carry out in
situ determination; secondly, use of an expensive gas chromatography apparatus, and
thirdly, need for highly intellectual human resources.
[Detailed Description of the Invention]
The present invention is intended to determine species of organic
compounds in situ, in a short period of time with ease, in particular it determines
species and content of organic compounds by measuring increased volume levels of
an organic semi-conductive agent, which is represented by resistance value, wherein
the volume of the organic semi-conductive agent depends upon species and content
of organic compound which it contacts.
Such organic semi-conductive agent composition according to the
present invention comprises 54 wt% of EEA, 39 wt% of conductive carbon black,
0.25 wt% of antioxidant, 6 wt% of dispersing agent, 0.75 wt% of cross-linking agent,
and a sensor using the said organic semi-conductive agent is formed by separately
planting two electrodes on a base resin comprised of above-mentioned composition.
The sensor operates by checking resistance value between the two electrodes over a
lapse in time.
[Brief Description of the Figures]
Figure 1 shows a side view of a feature of a sensor according to the present
invention.
Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a sensor according to the present
invention.
Figure 3 shows a schematic view describing variation of resistance value
from the sensor according to the present invention, with time,
[Description of Symbols represented in Figures]
1 : base resin 2 : electrode
[Examples]
Organic semi-conductive agent composition according to the present
invention is prepared into a base resin, by mixing 54 wt% of EEA, 39 wt% of
conductive carbon black, 0.25 wt% of antioxidant, 1 wt% of dispersing agent A and
5 wt% of dispersing agent B, 0.75 wt% of cross-linking agent.
EEA used herein, means poly(ethylene-co-ethacrylate), in particular having
15% of ethacrylate content, and 0.7 of MI (Melt Index), for example a commercially
available product EEA A710 (trade name) which is manufactured by Mitui Dupont
(Japan) can be used herein.
Conductive carbon black used herein, is Actylene Black type, for example a
commercially available product DENKA. BLACK (trade name) which can be
obtained from DENKA (Japan) can be used herein.
Antioxidant used herein, means 4,4'-Thiobis(6-tertbutyl-m-cresol), for
example a commercially available product Santonox R (trade name) which is
manufactured by Monsanto (USA) can be used herein.
Dispersing agent A used herein, represents Silicon wax, for example a
commercially available product Struktol WS 180 (trade name) which is
manufactured by Schill Seilacher (Germany) can be used herein, and dispersing
agent B used herein, represents polyethylene wax, for example a commercially
available product LC 102N (trade name) which is manufactured by Lion Chemicals
can be used herein.
Cross-linking agent used herein, represents l,4-bis(t-butyl peroxy
isopropyl)benzone, for example a commercially available product Perbutyl-P (PBP)
(trade name) which is manufactured by Nippon Oils & Fats Co can be used herein.
Base resin according to the present invention, that is organic semi-
conductive agent, is prepared from aforementioned components, including 54 wt% of
EEA, 39 wt% of conductive carbon black, 0,25 wt% of antioxidant, 1 wt% of
dispersing agent A and 5 wt% of dispersing agent B, 0.75 wt% of cross-linking agent,
and the base resin has a characteristic property such that its volume is being
increased when immersed in organic compounds, and the increased volume level
depends upon species and content of organic compounds.
Such can be used as EEA in the composition of the invention includes high
molecular compound or rubber and the like having polar functional group, as well as
VLDPE having a density in the range of 0.85 to 0.90 and MI (Melt Index) in the
range of 0.5 to 10 or metallocene catalyst. The said compounds can be used alone or
two or more combinations thereof in preparation of base resin.
More specifically, when EEA and ENA is used, the amount of EA or NA
should be in the range of 10 ~ 30%, with MI of 0.5 ~ 10, and either or both of
acetylene black type and furnace black 2 type can be used as conductive carbon
black.
Acetylene black is more suitable for use as it has less impurities, but Furnace
black may be used herein, and both of them can be used in combination.
Optionally, Metal Oxide (MgO) and the like can be added, and dicumyl
peroxide (DCP) also can be used as a cross-linking agent.
When the base resin with the above composition is placed in organic
compound, its volume increases variably according to the chemical species and
content of the organic compound, and the degree of volume increase can be
measured as resistance value to determine the species and content of the subject
organic compound.
Now, a sensor using such base resin of the present invention for determining
the species and content of organic compounds is described below.
Base resin (1) as showed in Figure 1 is prepared by using the composition of
the present invention, in suitable size, for example with a width and length of 2 cm
and thickness of 3 mm.
To the base resin (1), SUS electrodes (2) having 0.7 cm in length are formed
with an interval of 1 era, as shown in Figure 1, and a resistance meter is connected to
the said electrodes (2) so as to measure the resistance value.
When placing such base resin (1) into subject organic compounds, initially
resistance value measured at the electrodes (2) is nearly 0, as conductive carbon
black contained in the base resin (1) forms electron transfer pass.
However, as time passes, resistance value measured at the electrodes is
raised as the volume of the base resin (1) increases according to the species and
content of subject organic compounds.
In other words, the resistance value increases as the distance between
conductive carbon blacks becomes longer unlike the initial stage.
Resistance value detected at the electrodes (2) according to species and
content of organic compounds is shown in Figure 3, thus it is possible to determine
species of organic compounds by using the composition and sensor of the present
invention.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the time to reach 1000 Kohm
was, 7.5 minutes for gasoline, 3 minutes for gasoline containing 20% of toluene and
6.2 minutes for gasoline containing 10% of toluene, and 8.5 minutes for gasoline
containing 5% kerosene, 9 minutes for gasoline containing 10% kerosene and about
10 minutes for gasoline containing 20% kerosene.
Therefore, it is possible to determine the species and content of a certain
organic compound by checking the time, which takes to reach 1000 Kohm, or to 500
Kohm in order to save time, after placing the base resin (1) into a subject organic
compound.
As the present invention makes it possible to determine the species and
content of organic compounds by using base resin of which volume is increased
when contacting with the subject organic compound and checking the time for the
resistance value to reach a defined value, it takes a shorter time without using such
expensive apparatus.
In the present invention, it is possible to obtain the same result by measuring
the degree of increased volume, or the increased length of base resin. Also, with the
present invention, it is possible to measure the degree of degradation, i.e. oxidation
of various organic compounds, in particular to investigate degree of soil pollution
and its pollutant in investigating whether soil is polluted or not, and in the former
case, investigating the degree of pollution.
[Industrial Applicability]
The present invention relates to a base resin, which is made into a
composition comprised of 54 wt% of EEA, 39 wt% conductive carbon black, 0.25
wt% of antioxidant, 1 wt% of dispersing agent A, 5 wt% of dispersing agent B, and
0.75 wt% of cross-linking agent and has a characteristic such that the volume
changes when contacting with organic compound. Also, it relates to the method for