材料期刊网

A new electrochemical sensor was developed for continuous monitoring of the hydrogen content in metallic materials in engineering service at ambient temperature. The sensor is a dual electrode system, in which an electrochemically deposited nickel layer was employed as the catalyst for hydrogen oxidation, and a porous metallic oxide electrode was used as the counter electrode. No reference electrode was used in the sensor. Some effects of nickel plating and applications of the sensor were investigated. It was found that the residual anodic current of the sensor after nickel plating is possibly attributable to both oxidation of the plated nickel and discharge of the absorbed/adsorbed hydrogen atoms produced while electrodepositing nickel, but discharge of hydrogen seemed to dominate. The sensor signal responded swiftly to changes in the mobile atomic hydrogen content in metals.