Preparation of Colorimetric Hydrogen Sensing Films

Abstract

Abstract

Hydrogen is widely used in many industrial applications, including hydrochloric acid production, ammonia synthesis, and hydrogenation of petroleum products. But hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, flammable gas with a low explosion limit of 4 vol% in air. Therefore, in order to prevent unexpected hydrogen explosions, we have developed a hydrogen sensing film based on PdO@ZnO hybrid nanoparticles that can detect hydrogen by color change. To produce a cost-effective colorimetric hydrogen sensing film, the hydrogen sensitivity of the produced film was evaluated according to the quantity of component (PdO@ZnO) and the type of polymer (LDPE, PMMA, PVA, and EVOH). Among the samples, it was observed that the PdO@ZnO embedded LDPE film exhibited the highest colorimetric sensitivity (color difference, ΔE = 14.56) due to a good hydrogen permeability of LDPE.