Research Insights
The Electrical Hydrogen Sensor Technology with a Sub-minute Response Time and a Part-per-Billion Detection Limit for Hydrogen Environmental Monitoring
The goal of this project is to develop a field deployable hydrogen sensor with environmental monitoring capabilities to detect hydrogen content at environmentally relevant conditions that meet DOE goals. The project is organized around three technical areas: research and development with laboratory testing, sensor system integration, and simulated field testing. The team of scientists and engineers includes university, national laboratory, non-profit, and industrial partners. The objective of this proposal is to harness fundamental principles to build and certify transformational electrical hydrogen sensors that can meet or exceed DOE goals by employing novel hydrogen-absorbing alloys, targeted optimization of nanostructure designs that leverage innovative nano-fabrication techniques, highly selective functionalized polymeric membranes, advanced electronic integration, and rigorous real-world testing. This DOE funding award will be a continuation and expansion of the research activity originally supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program of the Savannah River National Laboratory. The challenges that are unique to environmental monitoring are the need for low-level detection, short response time, and stability in a single sensor. We will advance our sensors to meet the goals for environmental monitoring in a lightweight, robust, and economical sensor.
Funder: U.S. Department of Energy
Amount: $999,611
PI: Tho Nguyen, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy