Differential microwave sensor for characterization of glycerol–water solutions

[Display omitted] •The sensor is a differential device with a two-port configuration made of microstrip lines loaded with series RLC tanks.•The sensor offers a real-time, non-destructive water-glycerol characterization based on cross-mode S-parameters magnitude.•The designed sensor shows a linear va...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSensors and actuators. B, Chemical Vol. 321; p. 128561
Main Authors Ebrahimi, Amir, Tovar-Lopez, Francisco J., Scott, James, Ghorbani, Kamran
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Lausanne Elsevier B.V 15.10.2020
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects
Biofuel characterization
Biofuels
Differential measurement
Electromagnetic fields
Food processing industry
Glycerol
Glycerol-Water
Microfluidic sensor
Microwave sensors
Parameter sensitivity
Planar resonator
Resonators
Sensitivity
Sensors
Transmission lines
Differential measurement
Planar resonator
Biofuel characterization
Microfluidic sensor
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Summary:[Display omitted] •The sensor is a differential device with a two-port configuration made of microstrip lines loaded with series RLC tanks.•The sensor offers a real-time, non-destructive water-glycerol characterization based on cross-mode S-parameters magnitude.•The designed sensor shows a linear variation of the cross-mode reflection coefficient variation versus water content in the solution. This article presents a microwave sensor for detecting the water volume fraction in the glycerol–water solutions. The sensor is designed using a planar transmission line terminated with a series RLC resonator. A very dense concentration of the electromagnetic field around the resonator at resonance provides a very high sensitivity to any dielectric loading. Two identical sensing elements are designed and fabricated for a differential measurement. The experimental results with glycerol–water solutions of various concentrations show a high sensitivity of the differential S-parameter level to the water volume fraction in the solutions. The proposed sensor offers a high sensitivity, compact, real-time, and robust measurement platform with potential application in bio-electronics, biofuel characterizations, and food industry.
ISSN:0925-4005
1873-3077
DOI:10.1016/j.snb.2020.128561