Issue 37, 2019

Mid-IR evanescent-field fiber sensor with enhanced sensitivity for volatile organic compounds

Abstract

The increasing awareness of the harsh environmental and health risks associated with air pollution has placed volatile organic compounds (VOCs) sensor technologies in elevated demand. While the currently available VOC-monitoring technologies are either bulky and expensive, or only capable of measuring a total VOC concentration, the selective detection of VOCs in the gas-phase remains a challenge. To overcome this, a novel method and device based on mid-IR evanescent-wave fiber-optic spectroscopy, which enables enhanced detection of VOCs, is hereby proposed. This is achieved by increasing the number of analyte molecules in the proximity of the evanescent field via capillary condensation inside nano-porous microparticles coated on the fiber surface. The nano-porous structure of the coating allows the VOC analytes to rapidly diffuse into the pores and become concentrated at the surface of the fiber, thereby allowing the utilization of highly sensitive evanescent-wave spectroscopy. To ascertain the effectiveness and performance of the sensor, different VOCs are measured, and the enhanced sensitivity is analyzed using a custom-built gas cell. According to the results presented here, our VOC sensor shows a significantly increased sensitivity compared to that of an uncoated fiber.

Graphical abstract: Mid-IR evanescent-field fiber sensor with enhanced sensitivity for volatile organic compounds

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
30 May 2019
Accepted
28 Jun 2019
First published
08 Jul 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2019,9, 21186-21191

Mid-IR evanescent-field fiber sensor with enhanced sensitivity for volatile organic compounds

F. Alimagham, M. Platkov, J. Prestage, S. Basov, G. Izakson, A. Katzir, S. R. Elliott and T. Hutter, RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 21186 DOI: 10.1039/C9RA04104D

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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