Electrodeposition of Pd nanoparticles on single-walled carbon nanotubes for flexible hydrogen sensors

Abstract

Single-walled carbon nanotubes on thin plastic substrates have been decorated with Pd nanoparticles through a simple electrochemical deposition process and have been used to fabricate high-performance hydrogen sensors with excellent mechanical flexibility. The typical flexible sensors exhibit sensitivity (i.e., the change of resistance) of ∼75% for 0.05% hydrogen in air and response time of ∼3s for 1% hydrogen at room temperature. The performance of the as-fabricated devices keeps essentially unchanged even when they are bent to curving profile with bending radius of 7.5mm and after they are operated for 2000cycles of bending/relaxing.