Photoinduced electron transfer based ion sensing within an optical fiber

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 11; no. 10; pp. 9560 - 9572
• Main Authors: Englich, Florian V, Foo, Tze Cheung, Richardson, Andrew C, Ebendorff-Heidepriem, Heike, Sumby, Christopher J, Monro, Tanya M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.10.2011; Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI)
• Subjects: Acetonitriles - chemistry; Cations; Electrons; Fiber Optic Technology - instrumentation; Fiber Optic Technology - methods; Fiber optics; fiber-optic sensor; fluorescence sensor; Fluorescent Dyes - chemistry; Ionophores - chemistry; Light; metal ion; microstructured optical fiber (MOF); Optical Fibers; photo induced electron transfer (PET); Photobleaching; Quantum dots; Sensors; Sodium; Sodium - chemistry; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; metal ion; microstructured optical fiber (MOF); fiber-optic sensor; fluorescence sensor; photo induced electron transfer (PET)
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s111009560

We combine suspended-core microstructured optical fibers with the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) effect to demonstrate a new type of fluorescent optical fiber-dip sensing platform for small volume ion detection. A sensor design based on a simple model PET-fluoroionophore system and small core microstructured optical fiber capable of detecting sodium ions is demonstrated. The performance of the dip sensor operating in a high sodium concentration regime (925 ppm Na(+)) and for lower sodium concentration environments (18.4 ppm Na(+)) is explored and future approaches to improving the sensor's signal stability, sensitivity and selectivity are discussed.