Passive dew droplet removal from hydrogen sensors for fuel cell applications

This paper describes three structures to passively remove condensed water droplets from a gas heat conduction type hydrogen sensor for fuel cell applications. The three structures are A: water-repellent coating surrounded by water-absorbing porous ceramic coating, B: suspended porous membrane over a water-repellent sensor surface and C: wettability gradient for water droplet elimination. A real hydrogen sensor was used as a platform for the water-droplet-removal structures. Using helium instead of hydrogen, A and B type sensors and a reference sensor without water-droplet-removal structures were tested in a wet and hot atmosphere simulating a fuel cell environment. B type sensor showed normal output even after exposure to a dew-condensing atmosphere, while the reference and A type sensors showed abnormal output, suggesting dew condensation on the sensor surfaces. For C type sensor, a photochromic compound film on a super-water-repellent undercoat, which changes its wettability by ultraviolet exposure, was used. It was confirmed that the wettability could be controlled by ultraviolet exposure from 157.9° to 72.8° in water contact angle.