Suspended Palladium/Polymer Bilayer for High-Contrast and Fast Hydrogen Sensors

Hydrogen sensing is extremely essential for hydrogen-related applications due to the explosibility of hydrogen gas (H2). Here, we first present a high-contrast and fast optical hydrogen sensor, which is a partially suspended Pd/PMMA bilayer on a PDMS substrate with a microgroove array on the surface. The suspended structure reduces constraints from the substrate on the Pd film, leading to a large wrinkling amplitude and fast response rate during hydrogenation. The PMMA film can protect the Pd film from the poisonous impurities in the air and improve the flexibility of the bilayer. When exposed to 4% H2 mixed with air, the reflectance of the sensor drops down from 43 to 4% at 600 nm wavelength, in which the corresponding reflectance contrast, defined as the ratio of the reflectances before and after exposure to hydrogen, is 10.75. Such a high reflectance variation results from the light scattering induced by the wrinkling of the suspended Pd/PMMA bilayer during hydrogenation. Meanwhile, the sensor has a fast response that the reflectance can decrease from 43 to 33% within 0.6 s. Moreover, the sensor shows good recyclability and hydrogen selectivity. These excellent performances suggest that our suspended Pd/PMMA bilayer has great potential for practical hydrogen detection.