A nanoparticles based catalytic gas sensor with improved stability

This paper presents a miniaturized catalytic gas sensor for hydrogen detection. As catalyst, functionalized platinum nanoparticles are used whose increased surface allows a high sensitivity while using a minimal amount of material. The particles are stabilized by a ligand shell consisting of a diamine compound. These ligands lead to a cross-linking between the nanoparticles and thereby they prevent agglomeration. Sensors signal has been stable only with a low decrement for several hours. For comparison, a non-stabilized nanoparticle based catalyst is stable for only several minutes. A new sensor design provides a better controlling of the catalytic temperature, which also improves the stability of the sensor.