As a green and abundant source of energy, H2 has attracted the attention of researchers for use in different applications. Nevertheless, it is highly flammable, and because of its significantly small size, extreme attention is needed to detect its leakage. In this review, we discuss different effects of noble metals on the H2 gas response and performance of metal oxide-based gas sensors. In this regard, we discuss the effects of noble metals, in combination with metal oxides, on H2 gas detection. The catalytic activity towards H2 gas and the formation of heterojunctions with metal oxides are the main contributions of noble metals to the sensing improvement of H2 gas sensors. Furthermore, in the special case of Pd and somewhat Pt, the formation of PdHx and PtHx also affects the H2 sensing performance. This review paper provides useful information for researchers working in the field of H2 gas detection.

A hydrogen sensor was fabricated by utilizing a bundle of metal oxide nanostructures whose growth positions were selectively controlled by utilizing graphene, which is a carbon of atomic-unit thickness. To verify the reducing ability of graphene, it was confirmed that the multi-composition metal oxide V2O5 was converted into VO2 on the graphene surface. Because of the role of graphene as a reducing catalyst, it was confirmed that ZnO and MoO3 nanostructures were grown at high density only on the graphene surface. The fabricated gas sensor showed excellent sensitivity.

Hydrogen gas has attracted considerable attention as a promising candidate for future energy resources because of its eco-friendly characteristics; however, its highly combustible characteristics should be thoroughly examined to preclude potential disasters. In this regard, a highly sensitive method for the selective detection of H2 is extremely important. To achieve excellent H2 selectivity, the utilization of a metal-organic framework (MOF) membrane can physically screen interfering gas molecules by restricting the size of kinetic diameters that can penetrate its nanopores. This paper summarizes the various endeavors of researchers to utilize the MOF molecular sieving layer for the development of highly selective H2 sensors. Further, the review affords useful insights into the development of highly reliable H2 sensors.

Hydrogen (H2) is considered as a new clean energy resource for replacing petroleum because it produces only H2O after the combustion process. However, owing to its explosive nature, it is extremely important to detect H2 gas in the ambient atmosphere. This has triggered the development of H2 gas sensors. 2-dimensional (2D) graphene has emerged as one of the most promising candidates for chemical sensors in various industries. In particular, graphene exhibits outstanding potential in chemoresistive gas sensors for the detection of diverse harmful gases and the control of indoor air quality. Graphene-based chemoresistive gas sensors have attracted tremendous attention owing to their promising properties such as room temperature operation, effective gas adsorption, and high flexibility and transparency. Pristine graphene exhibits good sensitivity to NO2 gas at room temperature and relatively low sensitivity to H2 gas. Thus, research to control the selectivity of graphene gas sensors and improve the sensitivity to H2 gas has been performed. Noble metal decoration and metal oxide decoration on the surface of graphene are the most favored approaches for effectively controlling the selectivity of graphene gas sensors. Herein, we introduce several strategies that enhance the sensitivity of graphene gas sensors to H2 gas.

In this study, a PbS quantum dots (QDs)-based H2 gas sensor with a Pd electrode was proposed. QDs have a size of several nanometers, and they can exhibit a high surface area when forming a thin film. In particular, the NH2 present in the ligand of PbS QDs and H2 gas are combined to form NH3 +, subsequently the electrical characteristics of the QDs change. In addition to the resistance change owing to the reaction between Pd and H2 gas, the resistance change owing to the reaction between the NH2 of PbS QDs and H2 gas increases the current signal at the sensor output, which can produce a high output signal for the same concentration of H2 gas. Using the XRD and absorbance properties, the synthesis and particle size of the synthesized PbS QDs were analyzed. Using PbS QDs, the sensitivity was significantly improved by 44%. In addition, the proposed H2 gas sensor has high selectivity because it has low reactivity with heterogeneous gases such as C2H2, CO2, and CH4.

In this paper, we report the sensing performance of H2 gas sensors composed of Pd/carbon nanotube (CNT) buckypaper at room temperature. The CNT buckypaper was made using a simple filtration process and subsequently deposited with Pd as the sensing material. The sensitivity of the sensor increased with respect to the gas concentration. To investigate the effect of Pd thickness, Pd layers of different thickness were deposited on the buckypaper, and the response of the sensor was evaluated. The proposed sensor exhibits excellent sensing properties with optimized Pd thickness at room temperature (25℃). Pd nanoparticles significantly impact the sensitivity and selectivity of the sensor because of the spillover effect. In addition, the sensor is highly suitable for bendable and wearable devices owing to its structural flexibility.

Pd nanogap hydrogen sensors were developed using an elastomeric substrate and operated through an on-off mechanism. A 10 nm thick Pd thin film was formed on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate, and 50% of the physical strain was applied in the longitudinal direction to fabricated uniform nanogaps. The initial concentration of the hydrogen gas for the PDMS/Pd films was controlled, and subsequently, the on-off switching response was measured. We found that the average nanogap was less than 50 nm, and the Pd nanogap hydrogen sensors operated over a wide range of temperatures. In particular, the sensors work properly even at a very low temperature of -40℃ with a fast response time of 2 s. In addition, we have investigated the relative humidity and annealing effects.

In this study, we propose an array-type gas sensor with high selectivity and response using multiple oxide semiconductors. The sensor array was composed of SnO2 and In2O3, and the detection characteristics were improved by using Pt, Au, and Pd catalysts. All samples were deposited directly on the Pt interdigitated electrode (IDE) through the e-beam evaporator glancing angle deposition (GAD) method. They grew in the form of well-aligned nanorods at off-axis angles. The prepared SnO2 and In2O3 nanorod samples were exposed to CH3COCH3, C7H8, and NO2 gases in a 300℃ dry condition. Au-decorated SnO2, Au-decorated In2O3, and Pd-decorated In2O3 exhibited high selectivity for CH3COCH3, C7H8, and NO2, respectively. They demonstrated a high detection limit of the sub ppb level computationally. In addition, measurements from each sensor were executed in the 40% relative humidity condition. Although there was a slight reduction in detection response, high selectivity and distinguishable detection characteristics were confirmed

In this study, a PID control method for sweeping automatic linearization of a wavelength swept laser is proposed. First, the closedloop transfer function embodying the PID control is derived. Through the simulation of the function, Kp = 0.022, Ki = 0.008, Kd = 0.002 were obtained as the best PID coefficients for fast linear sweeping. The performance test using the PID coefficients showed that linear sweeping was held up well with a 98.7% decrement in nonlinearity after the 10th feedback, and 45 nm sweeping range, 1 kHz sweeping frequency, and 8.8 mW average optical power were obtained. The equipment consists of a fiber Bragg grating array, an optical-electronic conversion circuit, and a LabVIEW FPGA program. Every 5s, automatic feedback and PID control generate a new compensated waveform and produce a better linear sweeping than before. Compared with nonlinear sweeping, linear sweeping can reduce the cumbersome and time-consuming recalibration processes and produce more accurate measurement results.

A metal oxide semiconductor gas sensor is operated by measuring the changes in resistance that occur on the surface of nanostructures for gas detection. ZnO, which is an n-type metal oxide semiconductor, is widely used as a gas sensor material owing to its high sensitivity. Various ZnO nanostructures in gas sensors have been studied with the aim of improving surface reactions. In the present study, the sol-gel and vapor phase growth techniques were used to fabricate nanostructures to improve the sensitivity, response, and recovery rate for gas sensing. The sol-gel method was used to synthesize SnO2 nanoparticles, which were used as the seed layer. The nanoparticles size was controlled by regulating the process parameters of the solution, such as the pH of the solution, the type and amount of solvent. As a result, the SnO2 seed layer suppressed the aggregation of the nanostructures, thereby interrupting gas diffusion. The ZnO nanostructures with a sol-gel processed SnO2 seed layer had larger specific surface area and high sensitivity. The gas response and recovery rate were 1-7 min faster than the gas sensor without the sol-gel process. The gas response increased 4-24 times compared to that of the gas sensor without the sol-gel method.