Palladium Nanotubes for Optical Hydrogen Sensing: The Fabrication and Characterisation of Arrays of Nanostructures

Arrays of freestanding upright palladium nanotubes have been fabricated using a bottom-up method of electrodepositing into anodised alumina pores. Optical transmission measurements carried out with a range of post- fabrication treatment methods suggest that hydrogen diffuses into both the inner and outer surface areas of the tube structure. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy of the same sample before and after cycling hydrogen exposure show that the structures appear undamaged by the repeated lattice expansion.