Hydrogen Leakage Detectors Based on a Polymer Microfiber Decorated With Pd Nanoparticles

Taking advantage of hydrogen absorption properties of Pd, we developed herein a hydrogen sensor (0-1 vol%) based on a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microfiber decorated with Pd nanoparticles. The sensitivity of the hydrogen sensor was determined by the diameter and sensing length of the Pd-decorated PMMA microfiber. Thus, the hydrogen sensor showed a sensitivity of 4.5×10
^-4
nm/ppm for a microfiber having a diameter and a sensing length of 28 and 473 μm, respectively. The sensitivity was further increased up to 5.3 × 10
^-4
nm/ppm by extending the sensing length of the microfiber to 728 μm. When comparing the hydrogen sensing characteristics of pure- and decorated-PMMA microfibers, a significant improvement in sensitivity was obtained for the modified material which was attributed to the introduction of Pd nanoparticles.