Room temperature hydrogen gas sensor based on palladium decorated tin oxide/molybdenum disulfide ternary hybrid via hydrothermal route

•A hydrogen gas sensor based on palladium-tin oxide-molybdenum disulfide (Pd-SnO2/MoS2) ternary hybrid was fabricated.•Excellent sensing properties of the Pd-SnO2/MoS2 film sensor toward hydrogen were demonstrated at room temperature.•The sensing mechanism of the sensor attributed to the synergistic effect of the ternary nanostructures and potential barrier modulation was discussed. This paper demonstrates a hydrogen gas sensor based on palladium-tin oxide- molybdenum disulfide (Pd-SnO2/MoS2) ternary hybrid via hydrothermal route. The morphologies, microstructures and compositional characteristics of the Pd-SnO2/MoS2 nanocomposite were sufficiently examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy (RS), nitrogen sorption analysis, energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The gas-sensing performances of the Pd-SnO2/MoS2 sensor were investigated by exposed to different concentrations of hydrogen gas from 30ppm to 5000ppm at room temperature. The experimental results showed that the hydrogen gas sensor has a quite sensitive response, swift response-recovery time, good repeatability and selectivity toward hydrogen gas. Furthermore, the effect of Pd loading in the hybrid on the hydrogen gas sensing was investigated. The sensing mechanism of the Pd-SnO2/MoS2 sensor was attributed to the synergistic effect of the ternary nanostructures and the modulation of potential barrier with electron transfer. This work indicates that the as-prepared Pd-SnO2/MoS2 composite is a candidate for detecting hydrogen gas in various applications at room temperature.