Volatile organic compounds sensing with use of fibre optic sensor with long period grating and mesoporous nano-scale coating

Hromadka, Jiri; Korposh, Sergiy; Partridge, Matthew; James, Stephen; Davis, Frank; Charlton, Alex; Crump, Derrick; Tatam, Ralph

Abstract

A long period grating (LPG) modified with a mesoporous film infused with a calixarene as a functional compound was employed for the detection of individual volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and their mixtures. The mesoporous film consisted of an inorganic part, SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs), along with an organic moiety of poly(allylamine hydrochloride) polycation PAH, which was finally infused with the functional compound, calix[4]arene (CA[4]) or calix[8]arene (CA[8]). The LPG sensor was designed to operate at the phase matching turning point to provide the highest sensitivity. The sensing mechanism is based on the measurement of the refractive index (RI) change induced by a complex of the VOCs with calixarene. The LPG, modified with a coating of 5 cycles of (SiO2 NPs/PAH) and infused with CA[4] or CA[8], was exposed to chloroform, benzene, toluene and acetone vapours. The British Standards test of the VOCs emissions from material (BS EN ISO 16000-9:2006) was used to test the LPG sensor performance.

Citation

Hromadka, J., Korposh, S., Partridge, M., James, S., Davis, F., Charlton, A., Crump, D., & Tatam, R. (2017). Volatile organic compounds sensing with use of fibre optic sensor with long period grating and mesoporous nano-scale coating. Sensors, 17(2), Article 205. https://doi.org/10.3390/s17020205

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 17, 2017
• Publication Date: Feb 8, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jan 26, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 8, 2017
• Journal: Sensors
• Electronic ISSN: 1424-8220
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 2
• Article Number: 205
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/s17020205
• Keywords: long period grating (LPG); Volatile organic compounds (VOCs); Phase matching turning point (PMTP); Mesoporous film; Layer-by-layer (LbL); Calix[8]arene (CA[8]); Calix[4]arene (CA[4])
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/846771
• Publisher URL: http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/17/2/205
• Contract Date: Jan 26, 2017