| Palladium capped Mg-based transition metal alloy film (Pd/Mg-TM) is a potentially useful hydrogen gas (H2) sensing material, which can operate at low temperature for detection of H2 leakage in an environment to ensure safe use and storage of the gas. The Pd layer catalytically dissociates hydrogen molecules, and the hydrogen atoms produced can enter (hydridation) or be detached (dehydridation) from the alloy layer. These processes are reversible, such that the film is switchable between a metal state and a hydride state, giving rise to substantial changes in its optical transmittance/reflectance and electrical resistivity. Unlike a conventional metal-oxide (MOx) H2 sensor, hydridation of an Mg-TM film is associated with relatively low enthalpy, and hence can perform at temperature much lower than the operation temperature of an MOx sensor (typically around 500°C or above). As such, an Mg-TM based sensor does not experience undesired annealing effect during operation, and hence is much more stable and durable. Furthermore, the detection selectivity of a Pd/Mg-TM film versus other reducing gases is superior to most conventional MOx-type hydrogen sensors. In this project, we systematically investigated the H2 sensing properties of Pd/Mg-TM films. |
