Promoting the discoloration of PdO in low concentration H2 by using PdAu bimetallic catalyst for eye-readable hydrogen leakage detection

Developing reliable and low-cost optical hydrogen sensors for hydrogen leakage detection at room temperature is extremely important. It requires that hydrogen sensors have a remarkable and rapid color change in low concentration H2/air mixtures, which it is still quite challenging at present. Herein, we demonstrate an eye-readable hydrogen sensor based on Pd-decorated Au@PdO core-shell nanoparticle arrays (Pd-Au@PdO NAs). Pd-Au@PdO NAs show an obvious color change from brownish-yellow to yellow-gray in 1 v/v% H2/air and gray in 4 v/v% H2/air, with & UDelta;E values of 8.1 and 22.5, respectively. Detailed investigation showed that, at the cracks of PdO shell where Au core is exposed, PdAu bimetallic catalyst is generated during the sample-synthesis process. Compared with Pd catalyst, PdAu bimetallic catalyst significantly prompts the reduction of PdO in low concentration H2, represented as a faster discoloration process and more obvious color change. Additionally, the core-shell structure ensures a long-term stability through protecting the PdAu catalyst. We further show that the irreversible sensing performance of Pd-Au@PdO NAs can be reactivated repeatedly, which favors extending the lifetime of the optical sensor and reducing the cost.