Detection and Monitoring of Hydrogen using Palladium Film on SAW

AbstractWith predicted shortage of fossil energy resources and the increasing concern towards environmental pollution, hydrogen is seen as one of the most promising ways to store energy in automotive applications and consumer electronics. However, this odorless and colorless gas is highly explosive over 4% in air. Thus, the fast and accurate detection of hydrogen prior to the explosive concentration at room temperature is still a great problem. There are many methods of hydrogen detection and a comprehensive review can be found in the literature [1]. In this paper, thin palladium film is using as sensor material because of its well-known absorption properties relative to hydrogen. Phase variations of SAW devices using Rayleigh waves have been monitored versus various H2 flow. Moreover, a specific testing setup has been developed to follow hydrogen at atmospheric pressure and to allow regeneration of the sensor