Fabrication of Cu/Pd bimetallic nanostructures with high gas sorption ability towards development of LPG sensor

A one-step synthesis of bimetallic Cu/Pd nanorods with rod's diameter similar to 3 nm and their length in the range 10-15 nm is presented. The average size, size distribution, surface morphology and structure of the bimetallic Cu/Pd have been determined by transmission electron microscope (TEM), acoustic particle sizer (APS), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Further, thin films of bimetallic Cu/Pd nanostructures have been fabricated via spin-coating method. Fabricated films are, then, investigated for humidity and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sensors for the first time. The sensitivity and sensor response of the films towards the LPG are found better in comparison to the humidity. The investigated sensing parameters demonstrate that the fabricated LPG sensor using Cu/Pd bimetallic nanostructures is challenging for the detection of LPG at room temperature. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.