Semiconductor Gas-Sensing Materials for Dissolved Gas Analysis in Transformer Oil: Advances, Challenges, and Future Perspectives in Material Design and Optimization

This work reviews recent advances, key challenges, and future directions of semiconductor gas-sensing materials for dissolved gas analysis in transformer oil. It outlines the use of metal-oxide semiconductors, nanostructured materials such as two-dimensional materials and noble-metal-doped nanoparticles, and hybrid systems including MOF, MXene, and TMD for detecting critical fault gases such as hydrogen and acetylene, with emphasis on sensitivity, selectivity, and stability. It highlights progress achieved through surface modification, doping, defect engineering, micro-nano structural design, and plasma-based enhancement and considers the role of intelligent sensor systems and AI in material development and data interpretation. Despite improvements in low-concentration detection and response speed, issues remain in long-term stability, cross-sensitivity, and performance in complex oil environments. Future work should explore new material systems, establish unified testing standards, and integrate multidisciplinary approaches to enable efficient, intelligent transformer fault diagnosis. This review serves as a reference for designing semiconductor gas-sensing materials for power equipment monitoring.