Plastic Optical Fiber Sensor Based on In-fiber Rectangular Hole for Mercury Detection in Water

Jaehee Park,Hyejin Seo

doi:10.18494/sam.2020.2773

Abstract

Plastic Optical Fiber Sensor Based on In-fiber Rectangular Hole for Mercury Detection in Water

Highlights

Mercury is a known environmental pollutant routinely released from coal-burning power plants, oceanic and volcanic emissions, gold mining, and solid waste incineration
When the plastic optical fiber (POF) sensor was placed in water contaminated with mercury, the coupled light that arrived at the rhodamine derivative inside the in-fiber rectangular hole was absorbed through the ring opening of the rhodamine derivative induced by mercury ions in water
A POF sensor for detecting mercury in water was demonstrated. This mercurydetecting POF sensor consists of a POF including an in-fiber rectangular hole partially filled with a rhodamine derivative acting as a sensing probe

Summary

Introduction

Mercury is a known environmental pollutant routinely released from coal-burning power plants, oceanic and volcanic emissions, gold mining, and solid waste incineration. The development of detection techniques for the real-time and long-term monitoring of mercury contamination in environmental and biological samples remains a high priority.[1,2]. POF sensors based on in-fiber microholes have recently attracted interest because of their simple structure, low cost, high tensile strength, and easy handing. These sensors have already been used for refractive index,(14) liquid level,(15) and respiration rate[16] measurements, and previous research studies have shown that they may be suitable for mercury detection. In this study, the characteristics of a POF sensor (Fig. 1) based on an in-fiber rectangular hole partially filled with a rhodamine derivative acting as a sensing probe for detecting mercury were investigated. The light propagating in the rectangular hole is absorbed through the ring opening of the rhodamine derivative induced by mercury ions in water

Theory

Sensor Fabrication and Experiments

Conclusions