Design and investigation of thin film nanocomposite electrodes for electrochemical sensors

It is well known that even negligible continuous gas leaks at industrial plants may lead to serious occupational diseases. This fact – along with growing urbanization – impose more stringent requirements for ubiquitous gas leak monitoring and air quality control. To address this problem, sensitive, selective and stable sensors are required. The given work demonstrates the design and investigation of highly selective electrochemical sensors for continuous monitoring of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gases. In particular, we present highly sensitive thin film nanocomposite electrodes for electrochemical sensors. The nanocomposite electrodes are obtained on the porous Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) substrate by magnetron sputtering co-deposition of the graphite/platinum target. As a result, the thin film nanocomposite electrode consists of an amorphous carbon matrix which includes platinum metal nanoclusters (a-C/Pt). The electrochemical gas sensors with the developed electrodes are produced and tested in several gas atmospheres. The experimental results demonstrate that a-C/Pt has high sensitivity and stability as compared to traditional powder catalysts.

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