Metal Oxides Based Hydrogen Sensor Works at Room Temperature

Abstract

Tin chloride and Palladium chloride were used to fabricate H2 sensor based on PdO, SnO2 and PdOx functionalized SnO2 nanoparticles. There sensors were fabricated by spin coating technique using single step thermal decomposition method (SSTD) with annealing temperature of 550°C. The chemical composition and microstructure of the obtained samples were characterized by using X-ray diffraction, UV-VIS spectra, transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The sensing characteristic of sensors was investigated at different operation temperatures 25, 50 and 80°C. Results showed that PdOx-SnO2 sensor exhibited excellent sensing performance to H2 at room temperature (RT). When the operating temperature was 50°C, the detection limit towards H2 was 0.5 ppm with ultrafast response and recovery time. In addition, the sensor exhibited excellent stability and repeatability at different relative humidity with a high selectivity to H2 detection against CO, CO2, LPG, acetone, methanol and ethanol vapor.