Fabrication of Pseudo-Palladium Nanostructures and Its Application to Hydrogen Gas Sensor

Nano-structured palladium (Pd) is advantageous in the sensitive detection of hydrogen because of its large surface area. However, the formation of Pd nanostructure is not easy but requires expensive and complicated processes. In this work, we proposed hydrothermal growing of nano-needles and its application to hydrogen gas sensor. In this way, the physical parameters of the nanostructures such as length and diameter can be easily controlled during the hydrothermal process. In addition, fast response time and high sensitivity can be obtained because the hydrogen gas can be easily absorbed into the thin Pd layer resulting in the fast and steep change of the conductance.