Unconventional Sensor Research Articles

An MIP-Based PFAS Sensor Exploiting Nanolayers on Plastic Optical Fibers for Ultra-Wide and Ultra-Low Detection Ranges-A Case Study of PFAS Detection in River Water.

In this work, a novel optical-chemical sensor for the detection of per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFASs) in a real scenario is presented. The proposed sensing approach exploits the multimode characteristics of plastic optical fibers (POFs) to achieve unconventional sensors via surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomena. The sensor is realized by the coupling of an SPR-POF platform with a novel chemical chip based on different polymeric nanolayers over the core of a D-shaped POF, one made up of an optical adhesive and one of a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for PFAS. The chemical chip is used to launch the light into the SPR D-shaped POF platform, so the interaction between the analyte and the MIP's sites can be used to modulate the propagated light in the POFs and the SPR phenomena. Selectivity tests and dose-response curves by standard PFOA water solutions were carried out to characterize the detection range sensor response, obtaining a wide PFAS response range, from 1 ppt to 1000 ppt. Then, tests performed on river water samples collected from the Bormida river paved the way for the applicability of the proposed approach to a real scenario.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensors Employing a Nanoparticle-On-Liquid-Mirror (NPoLM) Architecture.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors typically employ nanophotonic structures that support high-field confinement and enhancement in hotspots to increase the Raman scattering from target molecules by orders of magnitude. In general, high field and SERS enhancement can be achieved by reducing the critical dimensions and mode volumes of the hotspots to nanoscale. To this end, a multitude of SERS sensors employing photonic structures with nanometric hotspots have been demonstrated. However, delivering analyte molecules into nanometric hotspots is challenging, and the trade-off between field confinement/enhancement and analyte delivery efficiency is a critical limiting factor for the performance of many nanophotonic SERS sensors. Here, a new type of SERS sensor employing solid-metal nanoparticles and bulk liquid metal is demonstrated to form nanophotonic resonators with a nanoparticle-on-liquid-mirror (NPoLM) architecture, which effectively resolves this trade-off. In particular, this unconventional sensor architecture allows for the convenient formation of nanometric hotspots by introducing liquid metal after analyte molecules are efficiently delivered to the surface of gold nanoparticles. In addition, a cost-effective and reliable process is developed to produce gold nanoparticles on a substrate suitable for forming NPoLM structures. These NPoLM structures achieve two orders of magnitude higher SERS signals than the gold nanoparticles alone.

Experimental investigation of the behaviour of pile foundations of a high-rise building

In any high-rise building construction based on piles, it is essential to correctly evaluate their response when subject to high loads to avoid oversizing and consequently high costs. This work falls within the framework of the FONDASILEX project, which studies the behaviour of the pile foundations and the soil within the ‘Silex2’ tower project built in the Part-Dieu district in Lyon, France. This paper presents the geotechnical instrumentation executed for the foundations and the soil to enable the real-time monitoring of their behaviour. It details its conception, execution and limits. Five different types of electrical and unconventional sensors, including the fibre optic technique, which is based on reflectometry by Rayleigh scattering, were employed. This instrumentation allowed us to measure the soil settlement, the applied load at the head of the pile and the induced deformation in the concrete. The obtained measurements showed good agreement between all the sensors and were compatible with the real applied load. The results of this monitoring completed with an additional specific study to characterize the soil will be used in a future study to calibrate numerical models simulating the behaviour of high-rise building foundations.

Bioinspired CS@PAN Electrospun Fibrous Aerogels with Vertical Capsule Vessels for Self-Feedback Temperature Sensing

Unconventional sensors with characteristics of portability, safety, remote manipulation, and high spatiotemproal resolution are highly desirable to detect varied temperature under specific conditions such as local temperature fields of the microenvironment. Herein, a 3D high-performance optical thermometry platform driven by the up-conversion green fluorescence of Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped electrospun fibrous aerogels is developed. The system simply consists of polycrystalline-encapsulated (Y1–x–yErxYby)2O2S/polyacrylonitrile (YOS-EY/PAN) electrospun fibers and chitosan (CS). The flexible fibers form a hierarchically ordered bionic cellular structure through bio-based cross-linking, which avoids toxic chemical cross-linking. Additionally, the intense green emission is ascribed to 2H11/2/4S3/2 → 4I15/2 transitions, as the main indicator to determine the relative sensitivity of 1.22% K–1 at 303 K. More importantly, multipoint dispersed lanthanide (Ln) between cell walls confers stronger temperature sensing capability to aerogels. The successful strategy provides insights for the development of luminescence thermometry and opens a window for multidimensional temperature sensing.

Future Sensors for Smart Objects by Printing Technologies in Industry 4.0 Scenario

Industry 4.0 has radically been transforming the production processes and systems with the adoption of enabling technologies, such as Internet of things (IoT), big data, additive manufacturing (AM), and cloud computing. In this context, sensors are essential to extract information about production, spare parts, equipment health, and environmental conditions necessary for improving many aspects of industrial processes (flexibility, efficiency, costs, etc.). Sensors should be placed everywhere (on machines, smart devices, objects, and tools) inside the factory to monitor in real-time physical quantities such as temperature, vibrations, deformations that could affect the production. Printed electronics (PE) offers techniques to produce unconventional sensor and systems or to make conventional objects “smart”. This work aims to analyze innovative PE technologies—inkjet printing and aerosol jet printing in combination with photonic curing—as manufacturing technologies for electronics and sensors to be integrated into objects, showing a series of sensors fabricated by PE as applications that will be adopted for smart objects and Industry 4.0.

Stall Detection Using Pseudo-Acoustic Pressure Modulation in Industrial Fans

This work investigates the use of unconventional sensors to measure pressure modulation interpreted as pseudo sound in the near field on the casing of a fan in a view to detect rotating stall. Rotating stall is an aerodynamic issue with a frequency signature usually half the rotor frequency. In low speed turbomachines, such as industrial fans, this turns in very low frequencies, even lower than 10 Hz.Traditional methods use piezoelectric sensors, e.g., pressure transducers or microphones, respectively in the near and far-field, to detect instability from the signal patterns with broad frequency ranges. Recently electret microphones have been proposed, but with a cut-off frequency of 20 Hz as such not suitable for signal in near infrasound region.The sensor used in this work, have a narrower frequency range than more advanced technologies. The authors developed and set-up a measurement system able to acquire low frequency pressure signals using dynamic microphones.In this paper the authors developed a measurement chain based on dynamic microphone and pressure transducer in order to create a stall warning system. They tested the system on a low speed axial fan and they validated the work against state of the art acoustic control techniques. For this reason those devices represent candidate solutions for the detection of the patterns typical of rotating stall in turbomachines.

Aerosol Printing of High Resolution Films for LTCC-Multilayer Components

For the electronic packaging of sensor stable and cost-efficient fine-line printing technologies on LTCC and high frequency laminates are needed. Especially common technologies like screen printing and thin film techniques are unsuitable for fine structures or too expensive. In addition there is no direct write technology for 3D-LTCC-designs as well as for high reliability Co-firing structures. Closing this gap the aerosol printing technology is used to print high resolution conductors on planar and non-planar substrates. Aerosol printing is a direct write non-contact printing technology of functional layers. After a pneumatic atomization the ink is transformed into 1 to 5 μm droplets. The resulting, continuous aerosol stream is focused by a sheath gas in the printing head. Thus the long standoff distance between substrate and deposition tip of max. 5 mm allows the 3D-printing on non-planar substrates. With optimized inks and printing parameters line widths of 10 μm are achievable. This paper will present applications for aerosol printed functional layers on LTCC. These are, for example, aerosol printed films embedded in co-fired LTCC, fine line structures for high frequency applications and the evaluation of printed 3D-structures like LTCC-stairways. Furthermore the 90 degree contacting of unconventional sensor designs will be presented.

Aerosol Printing of High Resolution Films for LTCC-Multilayer Components

For the electronic packaging of sensor stable and cost-efficient fine line printing technologies on LTCC and high frequency laminates are needed. Especially common technologies like screen printing and thin film techniques are unsuitable for fine structures or too expensive. In addition, there is no direct write technology for 3D LTCC designs as well as for high reliability cofiring structures. Closing this gap, aerosol printing technology is used to print high resolution conductors on planar and nonplanar substrates. Aerosol printing is a direct write noncontact printing technology of functional layers. After pneumatic atomization, the ink is transformed into 1–5 μm droplets. The resulting continuous aerosol stream is focused by a sheath gas in the printing head. Thus, the long standoff distance between the substrate and the deposition tip of max. 5 mm allows 3D printing on nonplanar substrates. With optimized inks and printing parameters, line widths of 10 μm are achievable. This paper will present applications for aerosol printed functional layers on LTCC. These are, for example, aerosol printed films embedded in cofired LTCC, fine line structures for high frequency applications, and the evaluation of printed 3D structures like LTCC stairways. Furthermore, the 90° contact of unconventional sensor designs will be presented.

Wavelet multiresolution analysis for monitoring the occurrence of arcing on overhead electrified railways

A crucial problem for railway companies is the detection of the critical points of the overhead line for predicting excessive wear of the contact wire and for helping maintenance activities. An innovative tool, based on wavelet multiresolution analysis, is proposed in this paper for on-line monitoring of the quality of current collection. Wavelet decomposition of data collected from different measurement systems (e.g. total traction line current or signals acquired from unconventional sensors) can perform an automatic analysis of the data collected and can detect a singular occurrence of arcing due to loss of contact of the pantograph. A relevant outcome of such an analysis is the evaluation of a quantitative index for checking the quality of the current collection via an integral analysis of the multiresolution signal decomposition. Examples of analysis from experimental data are reported in the paper.

Smart imaging in the infrared

The paper examines the way in which imaging systems are limited by physical and technological constraints. In particular, problems associated with imaging in the infrared waveband are discussed and the different ways in which these problems can be overcome considered, either by the use of unconventional sensor systems or advanced processing techniques.