Enhanced Acetone Sensing at Room Temperature using Tailored Co3O4 Nanostructures-Coated Optical Fibers: An Application towards Non-invasive Blood Glucose Sensor

Abstract

Detection of acetone molecules is of paramount importance in the fields of healthcare, air quality monitoring and industrial uses. Herein, we proposed a room temperature Co3O4 nanoparticles coated optical fiber acetone gas sensor. Structural, morphological and uniformity coating of synthesized Co3O4 nanoparticles were investigated using X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy techniques. Interestingly, sensing studies uncovered the linear characteristic in output detector current with change in 0-2.5 ppm acetone concentration for all the sensors (named as F-S350, F-S500 and F-S1000 sensors coated with nanoparticles annealed at 350, 500 and 1000°C, respectively). The F-S350 sensor divulged a significant increase in output current, sensitivity around 15 times higher and reduced limit-of-detection (LoD) values with regard to F-S1000 device. Furthermore, the sensing parameters were augmented by exposed to lower acetone concentration. The experimental findings established the F-S350 sensor as a superior device, which is explained by the evanescent field distribution outside coating region of fiber through FDTD simulation. Typically, the concentration of acetone gas in diabetic patients is above 1.8 ppm than healthy people (range 0.3-0.9 ppm), and therefore the proposed room temperature F- S350 device having LoD value 0.15 ppm can be deemed as a biomarker for the detection of acetone molecules in diabetic patients.