D-shaped Plastic Optical Fiber Research Articles

Plasmonic sensor combined with a microcuvette device for monitoring molecule binding processes at ultra-low concentrations

A novel sensing strategy is presented to monitor receptor-target pair interactions at ultra-low concentrations without functionalization processes. The biosensing is made by a sensitive chip and a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) probe connected in series, both built up on multimode plastic optical fibers (POFs). The SPR probe is a conventional D-shaped POF platform, while the capture platform consists of three microholes, containing a few hundred nanoliters each, made in the core of a modified POF. The microholes are filled with a specific receptor solution, which selectively captures the target present in the samples dropped over the filled microholes. Any variation occurring in the microholes due to the molecule binding processes changes the mode profile of the propagated light in the POF's core, modifying the plasmonic effects proportionally to the phenomena under scrutiny. As a proof of concept, the interactions of two receptor-target pairs, estradiol and cortisol to the respective receptors, namely Estrogen Receptor alpha protein (ER) and Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR), were monitored over time in the attomolar range. The receptor-target pair interactions are observed at ultra-low concentrations (order of aM) by monitoring the resonance wavelength shift over time. The proposed sensing approach stands for a novel class of laboratory instrumentation with unprecedented capabilities in terms of compactness, ultra-high sensitivity and low-cost.

Development and sensitivity analysis of MWCNTs coated D-shaped plastic optical fiber sensor for the detection of mercury

Heavy metal pollutants in rivers and water catchments are one of the problems faced by many developing countries as they may result in health issues among their people. A proper sensing mechanism is required to ensure the quality of water. In this research, we propose a simple, low cost, and highly sensitive D-shaped plastic optical fiber (POF) sensor layered with functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) for the detection of mercury in water. The sensor underwent interrogation across a range of mercury concentrations at room temperature. Numerous methods of characterization have been employed to explore the intricate structural attributes of the sensing layer to verify that the nanocomposite surface layer is functionalized with minimal disruption to the nanotubes. The experimental results revealed that the coated sensor displayed swift response and recovery time of 6.3 s and 13 s respectively when tested with the dynamic mercury concentration range (0 to 5 ppm). Moreover, it exhibited a relative absorbance of 7.33 %/ppm, which is approximately four times higher than the plain sensor and a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.1 ppm. The sensor has the potential to be transformed into an on-site, portable, real-time optical sensor for the detection of mercury ions in drinking water, offering high sensitivity and fast data acquisition.

Dual D-shaped plastic optical fiber for simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature based on specklegram

The refractive index (RI) measurment of the liquid often changes with the sensor's temperature. Accurate RI measurements require simultaneous measurements of the liquid temperature to calibrate the RI measurement. This study proposed what we believe to be a novel dual D-shaped plastic optical fiber sensor capable of simultaneously measuring both RI and temperature. A fluorescent material made of rhodamine B (RhB) is embedded in one of the D-shaped structures of the dual D-shaped fiber, which can be excited by a green laser to produce orange fluorescence. The fluorescence and the input laser of the fiber are superimposed at the output end of the fiber to form a specklegram containing information of two wavelengths. It was found through experiments that the effects of temperature and RI change on the red and green channels of the specklegrams are different, and the neural network can learn this feature to complete the measurement of both RI and temperature parameters. For RI sensing, the maximum error between the average predicted value and the true value of the test set is 0.0005. For temperature sensing, the maximum error between the average predicted value and the true value of the test set is 0.26°C. In addition, because the intensity change of the fluorescence varies linearly with RI and temperature, the sensor also has good stability.

Plastic-Optical-Fiber-Enabled Smart Glove for Machine-Learning-Based Gesture Recognition

Gesture recognition has always been an important research direction in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI). In this paper, a wearable gesture recognition system based on D-shaped plastic optical fiber (POF) curvature sensor was proposed and experimentally studied. A highly bend sensitive D-shaped POF curvature sensor was made and integrated into a five-channel signal acquisition system on a PCB board (8×4.5 cm), which was embedded into an elastic glove to collect fingers' movement data. Thirteen gestures and eleven grasping actions were defined, and the gesture data, the grasping action data and the gesture data mixed with grasping action data were normalized, calibrated and imported into a support vector machine (SVM) classifier based on Gaussian kernel function and feedforward neural networks (FNN) respectively. The recognition accuracy based on SVM of 13 gestures and 11 grasping actions reached 99.8% and 97.7% respectively. The recognition accuracy of 13 kinds of gesture data mixed with 11 kinds of grasping action data based on Gaussian kernel function in SVM classification model and FNN were 98.9% and 99.4% respectively.

Immuno-SPR biosensor for the detection of Brucella abortus

A proof of principle biosensor for the Brucella abortus recognition onsite is presented. The system is based on a plasmonic optical fiber probe functionalized with an oriented antibody layer immobilized on a short polyethyleneglycol (PEG) interface through carbodiimide chemistry and protein G as an intermediate layer. The biosensor is inserted in a holder built in 3D printing technology, obtaining a custom holder useful for housing the sample to be measured and the equipment. The removable sensor chip is a low-cost Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) platform based on D-shaped plastic optical fibers (POFs), built-in in 3D printed connectors, used here for the first time to detect bacteria via a bio-receptor layer specific for its membrane protein. The performances of the biosensor in Brucella abortus recognition are tested by using two different SPR-POF probes combined with the same bio-receptor layer. The best sensor configuration has presented a sensitivity at low concentrations of one order of magnitude greater than the other. A limit of detection (LoD) of 2.8 bacteria/mL is achieved well competitive with other systems but without the need for amplification or special sample treatments. Specificity has been tested using Salmonella bacteria, and reproducibility, regenerability and stability are moreover evaluated. These experimental results pave the way for building an efficient and specific biosensor system for Brucella abortus detection onsite and in a few minutes. Moreover, the proposed POF-based SPR biosensor device, with respect to the already available technologies, could be a Point-of-care-test (POCT), simple to use, small-size and portable, low-cost, don’t necessary of a microfluidic system, and can be connected to the Internet (IoT).

Innovative optical pH sensors for the aquaculture sector: Comprehensive characterization of a cost-effective solution

Optical fiber sensors show potential for monitoring multiple parameters essential to the growth and health of fish, particularly the pH value of the aquaculture medium. Two types of optical fiber sensors, using tapered silica single mode fibers with a Bragg grating inscribed and D-shaped plastic optical fibers (home-made and reused) were produced. A pH-sensitive layer made of polyaniline (PANI) was deposited on the optical fibers’ surface. The sensors demonstrated reproducibility and repeatability with a sensitivity of −0.22 ± 0.02 dB/pH, −472 ± 9 Counts/pH, and −(26 ± 2) × 102 Counts/pH for tapers, D-shape home-made, and reused, respectively, but only for increasing pH. Stabilization time tests indicated that a minimum of 60 s is required for a stable response, with no significant cross-sensitivities regarding temperature and ionic strength.

Sensing Approaches Exploiting Molecularly Imprinted Nanoparticles and Lossy Mode Resonance in Polymer Optical Fibers.

In this work, two different lossy mode resonance (LMR) platforms based on plastic optical fibers (POFs) are developed and tested in a biochemical sensing scenario. The LMR platforms are based on the combination of two metal oxides (MOs), i.e., zirconium oxide (ZrO2) and titanium oxide (TiO2), and deposited on the exposed core of D-shaped POF chips. More specifically, two experimental sensor configurations were obtained by swapping the mutual position of the Mos films over to the core of the D-shaped POF probe. The POF-LMR sensors were first characterized as refractometers, proving the bulk sensitivities. Then, both the POF-LMR platforms were functionalized using molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (nanoMIPs) specific for human transferrin (HTR) in order to carry out binding tests. The achieved results report a bulk sensitivity equal to about 148 nm/RIU in the best sensor configuration, namely the POF-TiO2-ZrO2. In contrast, both optical configurations combined with nanoMIPs showed an ultra-low detection limit (fM), demonstrating excellent efficiency of the used receptor (nanoMIPs) and paving the way to disposable POF-LMR biochemical sensors that are easy-to-use, low-cost, and highly sensitive.

Polymer Doping as a Novel Approach to Improve the Performance of Plasmonic Plastic Optical Fibers Sensors

In this work, Fe2O3 was investigated as a doping agent for poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) in order to enhance the plasmonic effect in sensors based on D-shaped plastic optical fibers (POFs). The doping procedure consists of immerging a premanufactured POF sensor chip in an iron (III) solution, avoiding repolymerization and its related disadvantages. After treatment, a sputtering process was used to deposit a gold nanofilm on the doped PMMA in order to obtain the surface plasmon resonance (SPR). More specifically, the doping procedure increases the refractive index of the POF’s PMMA in contact with the gold nanofilm, improving the SPR phenomena. The doping of the PMMA was characterized by different analyses in order to determine the effectiveness of the doping procedure. Moreover, experimental results obtained by exploiting different water–glycerin solutions have been used to test the different SPR responses. The achieved bulk sensitivities confirmed the improvement of the plasmonic phenomenon with respect to a similar sensor configuration based on a not-doped PMMA SPR-POF chip. Finally, doped and non-doped SPR-POF platforms were functionalized with a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP), specific for the bovine serum albumin (BSA) detection, to obtain dose-response curves. These experimental results confirmed an increase in binding sensitivity for the doped PMMA sensor. Therefore, a lower limit of detection (LOD), equal to 0.04 μM, has been obtained in the case of the doped PMMA sensor when compared to the one calculated for the not-doped sensor configuration equal to about 0.09 μM.

A Novel Microchannel-in-a-Fiber Plasmonic Sensor

In this work, a novel Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) sensor has been designed, realized and investigated. The SPR platform was created by using a D-shaped plastic optical fiber shell (POFS), obtained by removing the graded index core region from the fiber’s protective jacket, in order to create a microchannel. The latter was then coated with a gold nanofilm in order to obtain the plasmonic sensitive region. The sensor’s structure includes an integrated measuring cell, being the solution under test injected into the microchannel using a peristaltic pump. The microchannel dimension (160 μm) allows to avoid microfluidic systems, typically adopted in this kind of SPR configurations. As a proof of concept, the plasmonic sensor has been tested as a refractometer using different water-ethanol solutions, with a refractive index range from 1.332 to 1.352. The experimental results have highlighted a sensitivity and a resolution equal to about 1026 nm/RIU and 1.95 × 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-4</sup> RIU, respectively. These values testify to the proposed sensor goodness and its suitability for biochemical sensing applications.

Ultra-Low Detection of Perfluorooctanoic Acid Using a Novel Plasmonic Sensing Approach Combined with Molecularly Imprinted Polymers

In this work, a novel optical fiber sensor system for ultra-low perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) detection in aqueous solutions is proposed. It is based on the connection, in series, of two different plastic optical fiber (POF) platforms: the first is a chemical chip realized by using a D-shaped POF with microholes filled with a specific molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP); the second is a typical surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on a D-shaped POF. In particular, the MIP-based chemical chip was used to launch the light inside the SPR–POF chip to change the SPR phenomenon by exploiting the PFOA–MIP interaction in the microholes. At first, experimental results were performed in water to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed sensing approach for measuring PFOA (or C8) in a concentration range of 1 ppt to 750 ppt, obtaining an ultra-low limit of detection (LOD) equal to about 0.81 ppt. Then, experimental results were carried out in simulated seawater to implement a complex matrix. The obtained results denoted a slight matrix effect, paving the way for the applicability of the proposed chemical sensing mechanism in several aqueous solutions.

Non-Specific Responsive Nanogels and Plasmonics to Design MathMaterial Sensing Interfaces: The Case of a Solvent Sensor.

The combination of non-specific deformable nanogels and plasmonic optical probes provides an innovative solution for specific sensing using a generalistic recognition layer. Soft polyacrylamide nanogels that lack specific selectivity but are characterized by responsive behavior, i.e., shrinking and swelling dependent on the surrounding environment, were grafted to a gold plasmonic D-shaped plastic optical fiber (POF) probe. The nanogel-POF cyclically challenged with water or alcoholic solutions optically reported the reversible solvent-to-phase transitions of the nanomaterial, embodying a primary optical switch. Additionally, the non-specific nanogel-POF interface exhibited more degrees of freedom through which specific sensing was enabled. The real-time monitoring of the refractive index variations due to the time-related volume-to-phase transition effects of the nanogels enabled us to determine the environment's characteristics and broadly classify solvents. Hence the nanogel-POF interface was a descriptor of mathematical functions for substance identification and classification processes. These results epitomize the concept of responsive non-specific nanomaterials to perform a multiparametric description of the environment, offering a specific set of features for the processing stage and particularly suitable for machine and deep learning. Thus, soft MathMaterial interfaces provide the ground to devise devices suitable for the next generation of smart intelligent sensing processes.

Detection of 2-Furaldehyde in Milk by MIP-Based POF Chips Combined with an SPR-POF Sensor.

An innovative optical-chemical sensor has been used to detect the 2-furaldehyde (2-FAL) in milk. The proposed sensing approach exploits the refractive index changing in a microstructured chip based on a plastic optical fiber (POF) with orthogonal micro-holes containing a specific molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP). This POF-MIP chemical chip modifies the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomena excited in another sensor chip realized in POFs (SPR-POF) and connected in series. The proposed sensor configuration exploits MIP receptors avoiding any modification of the gold film of the SPR platform. This work reports the performance, particularly the high sensitivity and low detection limit, in complex matrices such as buffalo milk fortified with 2-FAL and in different commercial kinds of cow milk thermally treated for pasteurization. The measurements were carried out in about ten minutes by dropping the solution under-test on the planar D-shaped POF surface of the chemical chip. In contrast, on the gold surface of the SPR-POF platform, a water drop is always placed to excite the SPR phenomenon, which is modulated by the chemical chip via MIP-2-FAL binding. Furthermore, the experimental results demonstrated the pros and cons of the proposed sensor system. Thanks to the high sensitivity of the sensor system, the detection of 2-FAL in the diluted milk sample (1:50) was achieved. The dilution is required to reduce the interferent effect of the complex matrix.

An Optical Fiber Sensor for Uranium Detection in Water.

An optical sensor for uranyl has been prepared based on a gold-plated D-shaped plastic optical fiber (POF) combined with a receptor consisting of a bifunctional synthetic molecule, 11-mercaptoundecylphosphonic acid (MUPA), with a phosphonic group for complexing the considered ion, and a sulfide moiety through which the molecule is fixed at the gold resonant surface as a molecular layer in an easy and reproducible way. The sensor is characterized by evaluating the response in function of the uranyl concentration in aqueous solutions of different compositions and real-life samples, such as tap water and seawater. The mechanism of the uranyl/MUPA interaction was investigated. Two different kinds of interactions of uranyl with the MUPA layer on gold from water are observed: a strong one and a weak one. In the presence of competing metal ions as Ca2+ and Mg2+, only the strong interaction takes place, with a high affinity constant (around 107 M−1), while a somewhat lower constant (i.e., around 106 M−1) is obtained in the presence of Mg2+ which forms stronger complexes with MUPA than Ca2+. Due to the high affinity and the good selectivity of the recognition element MUPA, a detection limit of a few μg L−1 is reached directly in natural water samples without any time-consuming sample pretreatment, making it possible for rapid, in situ controls of uranyl by the proposed sensor.

A Temperature Sensor Exploiting Plasmonic Phenomena Changes in Multimode POFs

A novel sensing method for temperature measurements of liquids, exploiting plasmonic resonance in multimode plastic optical fibers (POFs), has been devised. The possibility to measure the temperature is useful in several application fields of plasmonic sensors, such as when a binding test between a receptor and an analyte occurs, considering that the binding parameters are a function of the temperature. The novel temperature sensor consists of two different D-shaped POF connected in a cascade. The first element is a thermosensitive platform with a thin silicone layer on the POF core, whereas the second is a conventional surface plasmon resonance (SPR) D-shaped POF sensor. The operating principle of the novel temperature sensor is based on the variations of light launch conditions in the SPR-POF sensor as a consequence of the temperature changes in the solution covering the thermosensitive platform. In this way, the input light ray angle changes with the temperature, producing a shift in resonance wavelength conditions. The proposed sensor has been tested, as proof of concept, in a temperature range from <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$20^{\circ }\text{C}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> to <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$38^{\circ }\text{C}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> with a step size of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$3^{\circ }\text{C}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> , to establish the role of the silicone layer on the thermosensitive platform and the best configuration in terms of sensitivity.

Exploiting Plasmonic Phenomena in Polymer Optical Fibers to Realize a Force Sensor.

In this work, a novel sensing approach to realize a force optical fiber sensor is designed, developed, and experimentally tested. The proposed sensing methodology exploits the effects of deformation due to an applied force on a patch of plastic optical fiber (POF) connected at the input of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor realized in a D-shaped POF. Therefore, the proposed force sensor system consists of an SPR D-shaped POF sensor, connected to a spectrometer, within input of a POF patch, connected to a light source used for interacting with the applied force. When the applied force on the patch changes, the mode profile of the light in the multimode POF patch and the SPR-POF sensor change too, so the SPR spectra shift. The obtained experimental results demonstrate that the proposed sensor has a resolution of the force sensor equal to about 22 mN and an excellent linear response in the range from 0 N to 0.5 N.

LSPR optical fiber sensor based on 3D gold nanoparticles with monolayer graphene as a spacer.

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) optical fiber biosensing is an advanced and powerful label-free technique which gets great attention for its high sensitivity to refractive index change in surroundings. However, the pursuit of a higher sensitivity is still challenging and should be further investigated. In this paper, based on a monolayer graphene/gold nanoparticles (Grm/Au NPs) three-dimensional (3D) hybrid structure, we fabricated a D-shaped plastic optical fiber (D-POF) LSPR sensor using a facile two-step method. The coupling enhancement of the resonance of this multilayer structure was extremely excited by the surface plasmon property of the stacked Au NPs/Grm layer. We found that the number of plasmonic structure layers was of high importance to the performance of the sensor. Moreover, the optimal electromagnetic field enhancement effect was found in three-layer plasmonic structure. Besides, the n*(Grm/Au NPs)/D-POF sensor exhibited outstanding performance in sensitivity (2160 nm/RIU), linearity (linear fitting coefficient R2 = 0.996) and reproducibility. Moreover, the sensor successfully detected the concentration of glucose, achieving a sensitivity of 1317.61 nm/RIU, which suggested a promising prospect for the application in medicine and biotechnology.

A highly sensitive plastic optic-fiber with a molecularly imprinted polymer coating for selective detection of 4-chlorophenol in water

To realize the selective detection of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) in water, a highly sensitive plastic optical fiber (POF) evanescent wave sensor was prepared using a D-shaped POF coated selective adsorption film of 4-CP. The film was composed of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) particles and PEBA2533 matrix. The MIP particles were employed to realize the selective adsorption and enrichment of 4-CP molecules, which lead to the changes in the refractive index of the MIP-PEBA2533 coating. These, in turn, resulted in changes in the light transmission in the D-shaped region and caused the attenuation of the evanescent field intensity on the surface of the sensing region. To illustrate the measurement principle, a theoretical model of the sensor was established. Furthermore, the performance parameters of the sensors, such as sensitivity, repeatability, selectivity and low limit of detection (LOD), were experimentally studied. The results highlighted that the proposed sensor exhibited a good sensitivity of -0.56 × 10-6 (μg/L)-1 and LOD of 100 μg/L for the detection of 4-CP in water. Moreover, this optic-fiber sensor has high specific recognition ability for 4-CP. The results of this study could inform the development of methods for on-line and accurate detection of 4-CP.

Flexible and Ultrathin Metal-Oxide Films for Multiresonance-Based Sensors in Plastic Optical Fibers

We have exploited a laser-based integration process of ultrathin metal-oxide (MO) films to improve the plasmonic effect in sensors based on D-shaped plastic optical fibers (POFs). More specifically, using ultrathin MO films, the performances of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomenon improve and a lossy mode resonance (LMR) can occur. Although the role of this kind of materials has been already presented, when they are deposited as overlayer (upside the thin metal film), we have used a different approach by depositing MOs, especially zirconium oxide (ZrO2) and titanium oxide (TiO2), as flexible intermediate layers between the exposed core of POFs and the gold film. The MO layer is prepared from sol–gel solution, and deep-UV laser curing allows us to densify the thin film and tune the refractive index, with a room-temperature process fully compatible with the flexible polymer substrates. In a preliminary step, we have carried out numerical results, based on transfer matrix formalism, to predict the SPR response. Subsequently, we have experimentally characterized the developed sensor configurations. Numerical and experimental results have shown above all an enhancement of the sensor performances, in terms of SPR sensitivity, with respect to a reference sensor based on a polymer instead of MOs. Moreover, in some proposed sensor configurations, together with the SPR phenomenon, an LMR phenomenon was observed. It occurred in a different wavelength range, for a typical refractive index range present when considering receptors for biochemical sensing applications. Therefore, both resonances (SPR and LMR) could be used in several application fields.

Bovine Serum Albumin Protein Detection by a Removable SPR Chip Combined with a Specific MIP Receptor

Nowadays, the development of simple, fast, and low-cost selective sensors to detect substances of interest is of great importance in several application fields. Among this kind of sensors, those based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) represent a promising category, since they are highly sensitive, versatile, and label-free. In this work, an SPR probe, based on a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) slab waveguide covered by a gold nanofilm, combined with a specific molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) receptor for bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein, has been realized and experimentally characterized. The obtained experimental results have shown a limit of detection (LOD) equal to about 8.5 × 10−9 M. This value is smaller than the one achieved by another SPR probe, based on a D-shaped plastic optical fiber (POF), functionalized with the same MIP receptor; more specifically, the obtained LOD was reduced by about three orders of magnitude with respect to the POF configuration. Moreover, concerning the D-shaped POF configuration, no manufacturing process is present in the proposed sensor configuration. In addition, fibers are used only to connect the simple sensor chip with a light source and a detector, promoting a bio-chemical sensing approach based on disposable, low-cost, and removable chips.

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein detection through a plasmonic D-shaped plastic optical fiber aptasensor

A specific aptameric sequence has been immobilized on short polyethyleneglycol (PEG) interface on gold nano-film deposited on a D-shaped plastic optical fiber (POFs) probe, and the protein binding has been monitored exploiting the very sensitive surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomenon. The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein has been specifically used to develop an aptasensor. Surface analysis techniques coupled to fluorescence microscopy and plasmonic analysis have been utilized to characterize the biointerface. Spanning a wide protein range (25 ÷ 1000 nM), the SARS-Cov-2 spike protein was detected with a Limit of Detection (LoD) of about 37 nM. Different interferents (BSA, AH1N1 hemagglutinin protein and MERS spike protein) have been tested confirming the specificity of our aptasensor. Finally, a preliminary test in diluted human serum encouraged its application in a point-of-care device, since POF-based aptasensor represent a potentially low-cost compact biosensor, characterized by a rapid response, a small size and could be an ideal laboratory portable diagnostic tool.