Room Temperature Hydrogen Gas Sensing via Reversible Hydrogenation of Electrochemically Deposited Polycarbazole on Interdigitated Pt Transducers

Abstract

In this study, polycarbazole (PCz) is presented as a receptor structure for chemoresistive hydrogen sensors. The fabrication of the proposed sensors via electropolymerisation of PCz on interdigitated Pt electrodes is an inexpensive, cost-efficient, and repeatable method. Preliminary results presented in this work show that PCz-based sensors are sensitive to hydrogen gas in the range of 1–4% in air at room temperature. Notably, responses are both relatively high (from approximately 280% for 1% of H2) and rapid (response and recovery times for 1% H2 from 5 s and up to 32 s, respectively). Results of PCz structures on Pt and Au electrodes prove that the application of Pt electrodes is crucial for observation of sensing effect. A sensing mechanism based on reversible hydrogenation of PCz is proposed to explain the sensor operating principles.