University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, Chemistry, Stevens Point, WI 54481
Choice 1 - Analytical Chemistry Choice 2 - Materials Science
ULTRAFAST HYDROGEN SENSORS, K.L. Wawrzaszek, T. Shogren, K. Levanetz, K. Bretl,
B. Warner, D. Dissing, D. Seeley, M. Zach*, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, Department of Chemistry, Stevens Point, WI 54481, MZach@uwsp.edu
Although it is not a primary source of energy, hydrogen attracts a lot of attention as a method to store energy from sources such as hydroelectric, solar and nuclear. A major issue with switching over to hydrogen gas is safety. Current commercial sensors are expensive to make, require expensive instrumentation or are very slow at detecting hydrogen even when at flammable concentrations. Sensors being developed in our laboratory are shown to be ultra fast even at levels far below hydrogen’s flammability. This technology was originally developed at Argonne National Laboratory and won a R&D 100 Award in 2006. Palladium metal thermally evaporated onto a silane treated surface forms an ultrathin layer of small nanometer diameter beads rather than a continuous sheet that forms on a bare glass surface. This work focused on improvements to the original design of the sensor. Improvements include utilizing interdigitated platinum array contacts and modified silanes for improved response.
This project was supported by a grant from Makel Engineering and EMTEC. 144-605578, “Advanced Ultrafast Nanoscale Hydrogen Sensors”.
[Abstract (DOC)]