Innovation in optical sensing: chitosan-coated FBG sensor for rapid detection of hazardous Rhodamine B
摘要
FBG are used in various different applications like aerospace industry, railways, civil structures, biomedical and in environmental monitoring. Herein, a novel research work highlights the performance of Chitosan—natural polycationic linear polysaccharide based Fiber Bragg Grating (c-FBG) sensors for detection of carcinogenic, harmful organic dye Rhodamine B. Chitosan was employed in FBG sensor as it is plentifully available polysaccharide, easily forms hydrogel and also binds with Rhodamine B. The interaction of chitosan hydrogel with Rhodamine B produces a deformation of the gel- consecutively detected as wavelength shift. FBG sensors are tiny and highly sensitive, capable of detecting changes in the picometer range, and even small variations can be observed as measurable wavelength shifts. FBG’s are the optical sensors mainly used for observing and monitoring parameters such as temperature and strain. The FBG sensor was chemically coated with 5wt% Chitosan in 4% glacial acid gel (c-FBG) and achieved a very low dye concentration of Rhodamine B with a Limit of Detection (LOD) of 1 ppm. Interestingly, the c- FBG sensor was successfully used in the detection of Rhodamine B from 0 to 50 ppm, with small intervals of 5 ppm up to 50 ppm level implying the efficiency/sensitivity (5.17 × 10–5 nm/ppm) of the c-FBG sensor. In order to validate experimental results of c-FBG sensor, simulation studies using R-Soft tool and traditional UV spectral analysis was conducted and the results were inline.