Self-Powered Thermoelectric Hydrogen Sensors Based on Low-Cost Bismuth Sulfide Thin Films: Quick Response at Room Temperature

Yan Yu; Zhenyu Hu; Shui-Yang Lien; Yaming Yu; Peng Gao

doi:10.1021/acsami.2c12749

Self-Powered Thermoelectric Hydrogen Sensors Based on Low-Cost Bismuth Sulfide Thin Films: Quick Response at Room Temperature

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2022 Oct 26;14(42):47696-47705. doi: 10.1021/acsami.2c12749. Epub 2022 Oct 13.

Authors

Yan Yu^{1

2}, Zhenyu Hu^{3

2}, Shui-Yang Lien⁴, Yaming Yu¹, Peng Gao^{3

2}

Affiliations

¹ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Functional Materials, Institute of Materials Physical Chemistry, Xiamen Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Advanced Manufacturing, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen361021, P.R. China.
² Xiamen Institute of Rare Earth Materials, Xiamen Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Photoelectric Functional Materials, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen361021, China.
³ CAS Key Laboratory of Design and Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 155 Yangqiao Road West, Fuzhou350002, China.
⁴ School of Opto-electronic and Communication Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen361024, China.

PMID: 36227642
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c12749

Abstract

Thermoelectric (TE)-based gas sensors have attracted significant attention due to their high selectivity, low power consumption, and minimum maintenance requirements. However, it is challenging to find low-cost, environmentally friendly materials and simple device fabrication processes for large-scale applications. Herein, we report self-powered thermoelectric hydrogen (TEH) sensors based on bismuth sulfide (Bi₂S₃) fabricated from a low-cost Bi₂S₃ TE layer and platinum (Pt) catalyst. When working at room temperature, the monomorphic-type TEH sensor obtained an output response signal of 42.2 μV with a response time of 17 s at a 3% hydrogen atmosphere. To further improve device performance, we connected the patterned Bi₂S₃ films in series to increase the Seebeck coefficient to -897 μV K^-1. For comparison, the resulting N tandem-type TEH sensor yielded a distinguished output voltage of 101.4 μV, which was greater than the monomorphic type by a factor of 2.4. Significantly, the response and recovery time of the N-tandem-type TEH sensor to 3% hydrogen were shortened to 14 and 15 s, respectively. This work provides a simple, environmentally friendly, and low-cost strategy for fabricating high-performance TEH sensors by applying low-cost Bi₂S₃ TE materials.

Keywords: bismuth sulfide; hydrogen detection; low-cost; self-powered sensors; tandem structure.