Synthesis and Oxidation Behavior of Pd-Ir@CeO₂ Core-shell Nanoparticles for Hydrogen Gas Sensor

Currently, numerous studies are being conducted on metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) gas sensors for hydrogen detection, using Palladium (Pd) and Pd-based alloy nanoparticles (NPs) owing to their hydrogen absorption ability. Furthermore, several studies have reported that Pd-Iridium (Ir) alloys possess high hydrogen absorption capabilities in their bulk state. However, Ir growth is limited to above 2 nm and it does not mix extensively with other metals. Furthermore, as the hydrogen absorption capacity decreases with the reduction in particle size, it is necessary to synthesize nanoparticles of an appropriate size. Therefore, the synthesis of Pd-Ir alloy NPs larger than 10 nm is challenging. In this study, we report the synthesis of Pd-Ir NPs with an average diameter of 19 nm using a hydro-thermal technique for the first time and fabricated Pd-Ir alloy NPs through calcination at 500°C in Ar and air. To confirm alloy formation and oxidation behavior, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were performed. In addition, we syn-thesized Pd-Ir@CeO₂ core-shell nanoparticles (CSNPs) as hydrogen gas-sensing materials. The Pd-Ir core was partially oxidized during heat treatment at 500°C in air, and Pd-Ir@CeO₂ CSNPs were finally changed into Pd-Ir(alloy)/PdO-IrO₂@CeO₂ CSNPs, which exhibited higher sensitivity and selectivity toward H₂ gas compared to totally oxidized PdO-IrO₂@CeO₂ CSNPs and pure CeO₂ NPs. The enhanced gas-sensing performance was attributed to the hydrogen absorption effect of the Pd-Ir(alloy) NPs.