Publication date: 22nd July 2026
Hydrogen is an abundant and clean energy source that can help decarbonise difficult-to-electrify sectors of our economies. However, its safe deployment relies on the availability of reliable and cost-effective hydrogen detection technologies. Existing hydrogen detectors are expensive, bulky, and power-hungry, limiting their broader use in emerging applications. In this talk, I will discuss the development of a hydrogen sensor based on printable organic semiconductors that can operate across wide temperature and humidity ranges and offer numerous advantages over commercial technologies. I will describe the fundamental sensing mechanism exploited and the prospects for further developments through new materials design and device engineering. Our organic sensors exhibit high responsivity, ultra-low power consumption, and record-short response and recovery times. Compared with commercial technologies, our printed hydrogen sensors demonstrate superior performance in diverse real-world sensing scenarios, making them strong candidates for health and safety applications in the emerging hydrogen industry.
