U-shaped evanescent wave optical fibre sensor based on a porphyrin anchored nanoassembled thin film for high sensitivity ammonia detection

摘要

A layer-by-layer (LbL) approach was used for the deposition of coatings with a nano-meter thickness onto a multimode optical fibre that was bent into a U-shape with the aim of demonstrating a fibre-optic ammonia sensor. The film was composed of alternate layers of tetrakis(4-sulfophenyl)porphine, TSPP, and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride), PDDA, deposited using the LbL electrostatic self-assembly process. Exposure of the assembled film to ammonia induced a change in its absorption spectrum, which could be observed in the transmission spectrum of the coated U-shaped optical fibre. The sensor showed a linear sensitivity (77.7 mV/ppm) to ammonia in the concentration range 1-100 ppm.