A novel yttria-doped ZrO2 based conductometric sensor for hydrogen leak monitoring

Pure and (8%)Y2O3-doped zirconium oxide commercial samples were investigated for developing a high performance conductometric hydrogen sensor. The morphological, microstructural, optical, and electrical characteristics of the samples were studied and compared. Conductometric sensors based on these samples were fabricated using a planar platform in alumina provided with interdigitated electrodes, and sensing tests were carried at different operating temperatures and hydrogen concentrations. Sensing tests revealed that the fabricated sensor based on the tetragonal ZrO2eY2O3 (8%) showed the best performances in terms of sensor response (R0/RH2 ¼ 7.3@10000 ppm of hydrogen), response and recovery time (5 and 10 s, respectively), and low operating temperature (150 C). These characteristics have been exploited for developing the first hydrogen leak conductometric sensor based on ZrO2 so far reported.