Hydrogen Gas Sensing with Networks of Ultrasmall Palladium Nanowires Formed on Filtration Membranes

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 262 - 268
• Main Authors: Zeng, X. Q, Latimer, M. L, Xiao, Z. L, Panuganti, S, Welp, U, Kwok, W. K, Xu, T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 12-01-2011
• Subjects: Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Filtration - instrumentation; Gases - analysis; Hydrogen - analysis; Materials science; Methods of nanofabrication; Nanocrystalline materials; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanowires - chemistry; Nanowires - ultrastructure; Palladium - chemistry; Physics; Quantum wires; Sensitivity and Specificity; Hydrogen sensor; palladium; networks; nanowires; Thin films; Nanofabrication; Filtration; Calcium nitride; Palladium alloys; Size effect; Nanowires; Gas sensors; Nanostructured materials; Gas detector; Nanomaterial synthesis
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl103682s

Hydrogen sensors based on single Pd nanowires show promising results in speed, sensitivity, and ultralow power consumption. The utilization of single Pd nanowires, however, face challenges in nanofabrication, manipulation, and achieving ultrasmall transverse dimensions. We report on hydrogen sensors that take advantage of single palladium nanowires in high speed and sensitivity and that can be fabricated conveniently. The sensors are based on networks of ultrasmall (<10 nm) palladium nanowires deposited onto commercially available filtration membranes. We investigated the sensitivities and response times of these sensors as a function of the thickness of the nanowires and also compared them with a continuous reference film. The superior performance of the ultrasmall Pd nanowire network based sensors demonstrates the novelty of our fabrication approach, which can be directly applied to palladium alloy and other hydrogen sensing materials.