Effect of plasma treatment on multi-walled carbon nanotubes for the detection of H2S and SO2.

H(2)S and SO(2) are important characteristic gases of partial discharge (PD) generated by latent insulated defects in gas insulated switchgear (GIS). The detection of H(2)S and SO(2) is of great significance in the diagnosis and assessment of the operating status of GIS. In this paper, we perform experiments on the gas sensitivity of unmodified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and those modified by atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) air plasma at different times (30, 60 and 120 s) for H(2)S and SO(2), respectively. The results show that the sensitivity and response time of modified MWNTs to H(2)S are both improved, whereas the opposite effects are observed for SO(2). The modified MWNTs have almost zero sensitivity to SO(2). Thus, the MWNTs modified by atmospheric pressure DBD air plasma present good selectivity to H(2)S, and have great potential in H(2)S detection.