Sensors provide an enhanced level of safety needed to utilize the highly flammable hydrogen fuel in automotives.
Hydrogen–based energy sources are long being viewed as a potential clean energy source. Nevertheless, the major drawback that has limited the use of hydrogen energy is the highly volatile nature of hydrogen gas.
For example, hydrogen gas can fuel the automotive industry, but it's extremely flammable when mixed with air. Hence, any automobile or other vehicle that uses such fuel must have a dependable and highly responsive sensor to ensure safety.
As per Design News, the above issue can be addressed with the help of sensors. At present, the development of optical nanosensors responds quickest when hydrogen has escaped into the air.
However, this sensor is contingent on a Plasmon optical phenomenon that happens once the metallic nanoparticles are lighted and capture visible light. The effect results in the sensor changing color as the amount of hydrogen in the environment changes.
With a twofold purpose, Nanosensors are encapsulated in plastic. First, such design outcomes in a marked increase in the sensor's response time, quickening the dissolution of the hydrogen gas molecules inside the metal particles. As a result, the metal particles of the sensors can easily detect hydrogen gas molecules.
The plastic also plays as a barrier to the environment, restricting other molecules from entering and impacting the sensor. Thus, the plastic wall is the key to the sensor's performance and offers a point of differentiation over related technologies designed to date.
As already mentioned, the automotive industry is eyeing the use of hydrogen fuel cells as an alternative to fossil fuels to promote the utilization of a cleaner source of energy. Therefore, researchers are striving to develop customized sensors that can contribute to the use of hydrogen fuel in the automotive industry. Thus, incorporating nanosensors into auto-motives will see a significant surge in the time to come.
