2-D WO3 decorated with Pd for rapid gasochromic and electrical hydrogen sensing

Abstract

The ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials display unique properties owing to their ultrahigh specific surface area and strong quantum confinement of electrons in two dimensions. In this work, we fabricated a rapid gasochromic and electrical hydrogen sensing system containing 2D WO3 and Pd nanoparticles. 2D WO3 nano-plates (NP) are synthesized using sol–gel method and Pd nanoparticles are coated on WO3 by green photochemical deposition method. The sensor is fabricated by dispersing the 2D WO3/Pd composite on filter paper. In presence of hydrogen gas, 2D WO3/Pd composite produces visible change in color from brown to dark blue. With the fabricated sensor, as low as 0.1% H2 gas in air at room temperature can be easily detected using electrical sensing scheme whereas for higher concentration from 1 to 100%, eye readable gasochromic scheme can be utilized. The use of 2D WO3 decreased the response time in great deal compared to WO3 nanoparticles indicating the advantage of 2D structure in fabricating rapid response H2 sensors. The proposed method is simple and can be easily employed to large scale fabrication system for commercial applications.