Fabrication of a Porous Fiber Cladding Material Using Microsphere Templating for Improved Response Time with Fiber Optic Sensor Arrays

A highly porous optical-fiber cladding was developed for evanescent-wave fiber sensors, which contains sensor molecules, maintains guiding conditions in the optical fiber, and is suitable for sensing in aqueous environments. To make the cladding material (a poly(ethylene) glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:TheScientificWorld 2012-01, Vol.2012 (2012), p.1-7
Main Authors: Henning, Paul E., Rigo, M. Veronica, Geissinger, Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analytical chemistry
Aqueous environments
Cladding
Fabrication
Fiber Optic Technology - methods
Fiber optics
Fluorescein
Fluorescence
Light
Microspheres
Molecular chains
Optical Fibers
pH effects
pH sensors
Polymers
Porosity
Porous materials
Response time
Scanning electron microscopy
Sensor arrays
Sensors
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Summary:A highly porous optical-fiber cladding was developed for evanescent-wave fiber sensors, which contains sensor molecules, maintains guiding conditions in the optical fiber, and is suitable for sensing in aqueous environments. To make the cladding material (a poly(ethylene) glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) polymer) highly porous, a microsphere templating strategy was employed. The resulting pore network increases transport of the target analyte to the sensor molecules located in the cladding, which improves the sensor response time. This was demonstrated using fluorescein-based pH sensor molecules, which were covalently attached to the cladding material. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the structure of the templated polymer and the large network of interconnected pores. Fluorescence measurements showed a tenfold improvement in the response time for the templated polymer and a reliable pH response over a pH range of five to nine with an estimated accuracy of 0.08 pH units.
ISSN:2356-6140
1537-744X
1537-744X
DOI:10.1100/2012/876106