Core and dopant effects toward hydrogen gas sensing activity using Pd@N-CeO2 core–shell nanoflatforms

Abstract

Developing efficient and stable hydrogen gas sensors may be of urgent demand for its safety uses. Herein, Pd@N-CeO2 core–shell nanoflatforms (CSNFs) are fabricated and utilized for this purpose. The resulting Pd@N-CeO2 CSNFs offer small particle sizes with high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area and porous nanostructures. The core–shell sensors establish high hydrogen sensing response and fast response and recovery times at a lower optimal working temperature compared to undoped and doped CeO2 ones. In addition, it further demonstrates high selectivity and stability toward hydrogen gas among interfering different target gases. The hydrogen gas sensing betterment is synergistically assigned to Pd core, N dopant, and high BET surface area effects, which decidedly modulate the electrical resistance of core–shell sensors to improve overall gas sensing performance accordingly. Our finding provides an efficient way to design and fabricate versatile hydrogen gas sensors based on metal@nitrogen doped-semiconductor oxide core–shell nanostructures.