Fabrication of hydrogen sensors with transparent titanium oxide nanotube-array thin films as sensing elements

Abstract Transparent thin films comprised of highly ordered titania nanotube-arrays were grown from titanium thin films using an anodization technique, from which highly sensitive and selective hydrogen sensors that can operate at room temperature were fabricated. Titanium films sputter deposited on glass at 500 °C were anodized in a fluorine-containing electrolyte to obtain nanotube-array films. Precise monitoring of current during the anodization enabled removal of the samples from the anodization bath at a point where the remaining metal layer became discontinuous, without destroying the nanotube architecture. The samples were then annealed in oxygen at 420 °C to crystallize the nanotube-arrays as well as oxidize any un-anodized metallic regions, yielding transparent films comprised of titanium oxide nanotube-arrays. Herein, we discuss the morphology, structure and optical characterization of these films. When coated with a 10-nm discontinuous palladium layer, the optically transparent nanotube-array films serve as excellent hydrogen sensors, exhibiting a four-order magnitude drop in resistance with exposure to 1000 ppm hydrogen at room temperature.