JOIN USThe Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad and the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur have jointly developed materials that can detect Hydrogen gas leaks with high sensitivity.
The research team has synthesized a semiconductor material that can be used as a sensitive detector of hydrogen gas.
This work by the IIT Hyderabad and IIT Jodhpur team would help in the development of reliable and robust hydrogen gas sensors with high sensitivity and quick response, for domestic as well as industrial applications, a press statement said.
The seeds of this development were sown during the National Frontiers of Science meeting organized by Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS) at IIT Hyderabad on December 2018.
During this meeting, Dr Chandra Shekhar Sharma, Associate Professor, Creative and Advanced Research Based On Nanomaterials (CARBON) Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad, and his research team held discussions on collaborations with Dr Mahesh Kumar, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Jodhpur.
The results of this collaborative research have been published recently in the reputed peer-reviewed journal Sensors and Actuators. The paper was co-authored by Dr Chandra Shekhar Sharma and Dr Mahesh Kumar and research scholars - Mr Vijendra Singh Bhati, Mr Akash Nathani and Mr Adarsh Nigam.
Speaking about the importance of this research, Dr Sharma said, “In the past few decades, the importance of Hydrogen has grown tremendously because of its promise as a primary energy source with the potential to become a panacea for clean energy generation.”
Despite the enormous promise of ‘Hydrogen economy,’ there are two problems associated with the gas. One is that it is difficult to produce, and the second is that it is hard to detect, and because hydrogen is inflammable, leaks can be catastrophic if not detected immediately. The latter problem is one that this collaborative research between IIT Hyderabad and IIT Jodhpur attempts to solve.
Highlighting the need for this research, Dr Kumar, said, “The explosive range (4–75%) and low ignition energy of hydrogen make leaks very dangerous. Human beings can’t sense hydrogen because it is colourless and odourless, which makes it essential to develop tools and sensors to detect hydrogen.”
Many kinds of hydrogen sensors are being studied, including optical, electrochemical and electrical sensors. Electrical sensors, in particular, resistive sensors, are the closest to practicality due to their low cost, simple design and the possibility of good sensitivity. The sensors to hydrogen gas must be highly sensitive and selective to the gas.
The researchers have loaded the zinc oxide nanoparticles onto nanofibres of carbon and have shown that this results in a sensing response of nearly 74% compared to 44.5% in pure ZnO nanoparticles. Nanofibres are extremely thin fibres that are bundled to look like cotton candy.