Detection of Dissolved Gas in Transformer Oil Using Pt-Doped WTe2 Based Sensor: A First Principles Study

The online monitoring of the insulation status of transformers is important to guarantee the stability and safety of a power system. Dissolved gas analysis (DGA), which employs highly sensitive gas sensors for detecting dissolved gas in transformer oil to reflect the insulation performance of such equipment, is a promising method to realize this purpose. In this paper, we used density functional theory to analyze the potential of a new 2D material, the Pt-doped WTe
2
(Pt-WTe
2
) monolayer, to detect typical fault gases (including H
2
, CH
4
, and C
2
H
2
) in transformer oil. Results indicated that the most stable structure of Pt-WTe
2
monolayer could be obtained by doping Pt atom right above the W atom, and its suitable adsorption performance allows Pt-WTe
2
to be used as a sensor and a scavenger for C
2
H
2
and H
2
, respectively. This article illustrates the mechanism of the interaction of Pt-WTe
2
with H
2
, C
2
H
2
, and CH
4
, which lays the foundation for the preparation of gas sensors for DGA.