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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Optical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 14350

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Barry K. Lavine

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
Interests: swellable polymers for optical pH sensing; vibrational spectroscopy; infrared imaging; forensic automotive paint analysis; chemometrics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Karl Booksh

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Chemistry, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
Interests: in situ chemical sensors for environmental, biomedical and industrial process monitoring; Raman; SPR; fiber optics; chemometrics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will cover the application of chemical sensors based on optical methods for the detection and identification of historical, transient, or emerging events that are industrial, environmental or biological in origin. These events may play key roles in understanding the impact and prognosis of processes crucial in a variety of settings. Although manuscripts are encouraged which highlight advances in the discovery of novel chemical markers indicative of important processes or the role played by these chemical markers into garnering insight about these systems or networks, we are interested in all studies involving chemical sensors that can contribute to advances in a broad range of applications. It is expected that a wide range of sensing technologies will be covered by this Special Issue, including novel analytical methodologies, unique platforms, or improvements to existing methods. For this Special Issue, we are soliciting both original research papers and review articles devoted to instrumentation, methodology, data analysis, or some combination of these which can impact the development of better chemical sensors.

Prof. Dr. Barry K. Lavine
Prof. Dr. Karl Booksh
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

optical sensing
Raman
optical surface plasmon resonance
chemometrics
fiber optic sensing
event detection
classification
calibration
high throughput screening

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 5944 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Lightweight Gas Sensor Based on MEMS Pre-Concentration and Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy Inside a Hollow Fiber

by Roberto Viola, Nicola Liberatore, Sandro Mengali, Ivan Elmi, Fabrizio Tamarri and Stefano Zampolli

Sensors 2023, 23(5), 2809; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23052809 - 03 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1424

Abstract

This paper reports on a compact and lightweight sensor for analysis of gases/vapors by means of a MEMS-based pre-concentrator coupled to a miniaturized infrared absorption spectroscopy (IRAS) module. The pre-concentrator was utilized to sample and trap vapors in a MEMS cartridge filled with sorbent material and to release them once concentrated by fast thermal desorption. It was also equipped with a photoionization detector for in-line detection and monitoring of the sampled concentration. The vapors released by the MEMS pre-concentrator are injected into a hollow fiber, which acts as the analysis cell of the IRAS module. The miniaturized internal volume of the hollow fiber of about 20 microliters keeps the vapors concentrated for analysis, thus allowing measurement of their infrared absorption spectrum with a signal to noise ratio high enough to identify the molecule, despite the short optical path, starting from sampled concentration in air down to parts per million. Results obtained for ammonia, sulfur hexafluoride, ethanol and isopropanol are reported to illustrate the sensor detection and identification capability. A limit of identification (LoI) of about 10 parts per million was validated in the lab for ammonia. The lightweight and low power consumption design of the sensor allowed operation onboard unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The first prototype was developed within the EU Horizon 2020 project ROCSAFE for the remote assessment and forensic examination of a scene in the aftermath of industrial or terroristic accidents. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Sensing for Chemical Application)

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14 pages, 1844 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Near Infrared Emitting Semiconductor Polymer Dots for Bioimaging and Sensing

by Connor Riahin, Kushani Mendis, Brandon Busick, Marcin Ptaszek, Mengran Yang, Gary Stacey, Amar Parvate, James E. Evans, Jeremiah Traeger, Dehong Hu, Galya Orr and Zeev Rosenzweig

Sensors 2022, 22(19), 7218; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22197218 - 23 Sep 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2268

Abstract

Semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots) are rapidly becoming one of the most studied nanoparticles in fluorescence bioimaging and sensing. Their small size, high brightness, and resistance to photobleaching make them one of the most attractive fluorophores for fluorescence imaging and sensing applications. This paper highlights our recent advances in fluorescence bioimaging and sensing with nanoscale luminescent Pdots, specifically the use of organic dyes as dopant molecules to modify the optical properties of Pdots to enable deep red and near infrared fluorescence bioimaging applications and to impart sensitivity of dye doped Pdots towards selected analytes. Building on our earlier work, we report the formation of secondary antibody-conjugated Pdots and provide Cryo-TEM evidence for their formation. We demonstrate the selective targeting of the antibody-conjugated Pdots to FLAG-tagged FLS2 membrane receptors in genetically engineered plant leaf cells. We also report the formation of a new class of luminescent Pdots with emission wavelengths of around 1000 nm. Finally, we demonstrate the formation and utility of oxygen sensing Pdots in aqueous media. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Sensing for Chemical Application)

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10 pages, 2106 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Detection of Hydrogen Peroxide in Liquid and Vapors Using Titanium(IV)-Based Test Strips and Low-Cost Hardware

by Rayhan Hossain, Jimmy J. Dickinson, Allen Apblett and Nicholas F. Materer

Sensors 2022, 22(17), 6635; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22176635 - 02 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3296

Abstract

Titanium(IV) solutions are known to detect hydrogen peroxide in solutions by a colorimetric method. Xplosafe’s XploSens PS commercial titanium(IV)-based peroxide detection test strips are used to detect hydrogen peroxide in liquids. The use of these test strips as gas-phase detectors for peroxides was tested using low-cost hardware. The exposure of these strips to hydrogen peroxide liquid or gas leads to the development of an intense yellow color. For liquids, a digital single-lens reflex camera was used to quantify the color change using standardized solutions containing between 50 and 500 ppm peroxide by mass. Analysis of the images with color separation can provide a more quantitative determination than visual comparison to a color chart. For hydrogen peroxide gas, an inexpensive web camera and a tungsten lamp were used to measure the reflected light intensity as a function of exposure from a test strip held in a custom cell. First-order behavior in the color change with time was observed during the exposure to peroxide vapor over a range of peroxide concentrations from 2 and 30 ppm by volume. For a 1-min measurement, the gas-phase detection limit is estimated to be 1 ppm. A 0.01 ppm detection limit can be obtained with a 1-h exposure time. Titanium(IV)-based peroxide detection test strips are sensitive enough to work as a gas-phase hydrogen peroxide detector. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Sensing for Chemical Application)

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10 pages, 825 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhancement of Dissipative Sensing in a Microresonator Using Multimode Input

by Sreekul Raj Rajagopal and A. T. Rosenberger

Sensors 2022, 22(17), 6613; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22176613 - 01 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 958

Abstract

Optical whispering-gallery microresonators have proven to be especially useful as chemical sensors. Most applications involve dispersive sensing, such as the frequency shift of resonator modes in response to a change in the ambient index of refraction. However, the response to dissipative interaction can be even more sensitive than the dispersive response. Dissipative sensing is most often conducted via a change in the mode linewidth owing to absorption in the analyte, but the change in the throughput dip depth of a mode can provide better sensitivity. Dispersive sensing can be enhanced when the input to the microresonator consists of multiple fiber or waveguide modes. Here, we show that multimode input can enhance dip-depth dissipative sensing by an even greater factor. We demonstrate that the multimode-input response relative to single-mode-input response using the same fiber or waveguide can be enhanced by a factor of more than one thousand, independent of the mode linewidth, or quality factor (Q), of the mode. We also show that multimode input makes the dip-depth response nearly one hundred times more sensitive than the linewidth-change response. These enhancement factors are predicted by making only two measurements of dip depth in the absence of an analyte: one with the two input modes in phase with each other, and one with them out of phase. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Sensing for Chemical Application)

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11 pages, 3112 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Monolithic Integrated OLED–OPD Unit for Point-of-Need Nitrite Sensing

by Igor Titov, Markus Köpke and Martina Gerken

Sensors 2022, 22(3), 910; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22030910 - 25 Jan 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3475

Abstract

In this study, we present a highly integrated design of organic optoelectronic devices for Point-of-Need (PON) nitrite (

{NO}_{2}^{-}

) measurement. The spectrophotometric investigation of nitrite concentration was performed utilizing the popular Griess reagent and a reflection-based photometric unit with an [...] Read more.

In this study, we present a highly integrated design of organic optoelectronic devices for Point-of-Need (PON) nitrite (

{NO}_{2}^{-}

) measurement. The spectrophotometric investigation of nitrite concentration was performed utilizing the popular Griess reagent and a reflection-based photometric unit with an organic light emitting diode (OLED) and an organic photodetector (OPD). In this approach a nitrite concentration dependent amount of azo dye is formed, which absorbs light around ~540 nm. The organic devices are designed for sensitive detection of absorption changes caused by the presence of this azo dye without the need of a spectrometer. Using a green emitting TCTA:Ir(mppy)₃ OLED (peaking at ~512 nm) and a DMQA:DCV3T OPD with a maximum sensitivity around 530 nm, we successfully demonstrated the operation of the OLED–OPD pair for nitrite sensing with a low limit of detection 46 µg/L (1.0 µM) and a linearity of 99%. The hybrid integration of an OLED and an OPD with 0.5 mm × 0.5 mm device sizes and a gap of 0.9 mm is a first step towards a highly compact, low cost and highly commercially viable PON analytic platform. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a fully organic-semiconductor-based monolithic integrated platform for real-time PON photometric nitrite analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Sensing for Chemical Application)

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15 pages, 2538 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis and Characterization of N-Isopropylacrylamide Microspheres as pH Sensors

by Barry K. Lavine, Necati Kaval, Leah Oxenford, Mariya Kim, Kaushalya Sharma Dahal, Nuwan Perera, Rudolf Seitz, James T. Moulton and Richard A. Bunce

Sensors 2021, 21(19), 6493; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21196493 - 29 Sep 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1797

Abstract

Swellable polymer microspheres that respond to pH were prepared by free radical dispersion polymerization using N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPA), N,N^′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA), 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetylphenone, N-tert-butylacrylamide (NTBA), and a pH-sensitive functional comonomer (acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, ethacrylic acid, or propacrylic acid). The diameter of the microspheres was between 0.5 and 1.0 μm. These microspheres were cast into hydrogel membranes prepared by mixing the pH-sensitive swellable polymer particles with aqueous polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solutions followed by crosslinking with glutaric dialdehyde for use as pH sensors. Large changes in the turbidity of the PVA membrane were observed as the pH of the buffer solution in contact with the membrane was varied. These changes were monitored by UV–visible absorbance spectroscopy. Polymer swelling of many NIPA copolymers was reversible and independent of the ionic strength of the buffer solution in contact with the membrane. Both the degree of swelling and the apparent pK_a of the polymer microspheres increased with temperature. Furthermore, the apparent pK_a of the polymer particles could be tuned to respond sharply to pH in a broad range (pH 4.0–7.0) by varying the amount of crosslinker (MBA) and transition temperature modifier (NTBA), and the amount, pK_a, and hydrophobicity of the pH-sensitive functional comonomer (alkyl acrylic acid) used in the formulation. Potential applications of these polymer particles include fiber optic pH sensing where the pH-sensitive material can be immobilized on the distol end of an optical fiber. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Sensing for Chemical Application)

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