Optical hydrogen sensing method using temperature-sensitive luminophore on porous palladium

A new hydrogen sensing method of luminescence-based hydrogen sensors is presented. This method uses a porous palladium and temperature-sensitive luminophores of europium(III)thenoyltrifluoacetonate to selectively adsorbs hydrogen molecules that generates heat on the palladium surface. The luminophores translate this heat to the luminescent signal. This hydrogen sensing mechanism combines processes of hydrogen adsorption, thermal quenching, and excitation. The sensitivity of the resultant system is over 60 times better than that of the reflectance-based sensing system using a bulk palladium. The change in the luminescent signal increases as increasing the hydrogen concentration of the gas as well as the injection time.