NiO and CuO Decorated Janus PtSeTe for Transformer Fault Gas Detection

The analysis of dissolved gases in transformer oil plays a vital role in evaluating the performance of power equipment in real time. In this work, the interaction mechanisms between four typical fault gases (H₂, CO, C₂H₂, and C₂H₄) and PtSeTe-based materials (including pristine and NiO/CuO-decorated structures) were rigorously examined using a first-principles approach. Findings suggest that gas molecules interact weakly with the pristine PtSeTe surface, characterized predominantly by physisorption. The incorporation of metal oxide clusters effectively boosts the system's adsorption capability and amplifies its electronic response. Frontier orbital analysis reveals that CuO-PtSeTe on the Se side exhibits an ultranarrow bandgap (0.16 eV) and significant work function fluctuations (Δφ up to 0.354 eV), demonstrating high sensing sensitivity. Desorption kinetic calculations show that at 498 K, the recovery times of CuO-PtSeTe for C₂H₂ and C₂H₄ are only 27.69 s and 71.11 s, respectively, indicating excellent reversibility for these target gases. In contrast, NiO-PtSeTe exhibits a stronger hydrocarbon-locking capability due to its high desorption barrier, making it suitable as a high-efficiency adsorbent. The theoretical simulation results demonstrate that CuO-PtSeTe has great potential for the online monitoring of fault gases.