Tailoring the Hydrogen Detection Properties of Metal Hydrides

Hydrogen plays an essential role in many sectors of the industry. For example, hydrogen is necessary to produce ammonia, it can be used to determine the quality of products (hydrogen is produced during food ageing), or it can result in medical diagnostics (e.g. lactose intolerance). In addition, hydrogen will play an important role as an energy carrier in a sustainable economy. As hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas with a low ignition energy combined with a high energy output, hydrogen detection is therefore essential. <br/><br/>We find that thin film metal hydrides are extremely suitable for hydrogen detection. The optical change combined with the possibility to change the pressure range by means of changing the layer thickness, the interfaces, or the alloy fraction indicate the large flexibility to adjust the sensing properties to the safety requirements. In addition, the discovery of the extraordinary hydrogen sensing properties of Mg-Zr-H and, in particular, Hf-H shows that there are still many new sensor-possibilities available to explore.