Zero-standby power hydrogen sensing using event-driven micromechanical switches
Date
2025-08-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Responsive Materials
Abstract
Zero-standby power sensors are crucial for enhancing the safety and widespreadadoption of hydrogen (H2) technologies in chemical processes and sustainable en-ergy applications, given the flammability of H2 at low concentrations. Here, we reportan event-driven hydrogen sensing system utilizing palladium (Pd)-based micro-mechanical cantilever switches. The detection mechanism relies on strain generationin the Pd layer, which undergoes reversible volume expansion upon hydrogenadsorption. Our experimental and simulation results demonstrate that the bistablemicromechanical switch-based sensor generates a wake-up signal with activationtime depending on hydrogen concentration in the target environment while alwaysremaining active for events without any standby power consumption under normalconditions. The H2 adsorption-induced subsequent switching of the multi-cantilever-based switch configuration on the sensor resulted in the quasi-quantification ofhydrogen concentrations. The reported zero-standby power sensor's operationallifetime is limited by the frequency of detection events and exposure to concentra-tions exceeding hydrogen's flammability limit. This work advances the developmentof high-density, maintenance-free sensor networks for large-scale deployment withInternet of Things devices, enabling unattended continuous monitoring of hydrogengeneration, transportation, distribution, and end-user applications.
Description
This article was originally published in Responsive Materials. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/rpm2.70018
© 2025 The Author(s). Responsive Materials published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Southeast University.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords
event-driven detection, hydrogen detection, hydrogen gas sensor, palladium, passive switch, zeros standby power
Citation
S M Jahadun Nobi, E. Herrmann, Z. Huang, S. R. Sitaram, K. Laskowski, X. Wang,Zero-standby power hydrogen sensing using event-driven micro mechanical switches. (2025) Responsive Mater., e70018. https://doi.org/10.1002/rpm2.70018