Pd Nanoparticles/Au@SiO2 Core-Shell Nanostructures for Hydrogen Sensing

Herein, a multistep synthesis method was implemented to prepare nanoscale core@shell spherical heterostructures for H2 optical detection. The resulting nanoheterostructures are built with gold cores and silica shells further coated by a thin layer of spherical palladium nanoparticles. Samples with various thicknesses of silica and densities of palladium nanoparticles were synthesized and characterized by transmission electron microscopy. In particular, the three-dimensional core@shell configuration was confirmed by electron tomography. The optical properties of the obtained nanostructures were first analyzed by optical absorbance measurements, and their potential use for H2 detection was evaluated by simulations based on the discrete dipole approximation method. Thus, the optical response of the studied nanostructures is investigated theoretically when the Pd layer is hydrogenated, showing the great sensitivity achievable with these nanostructures.