Real-time microwave sensor system for detection of polluting substances in pure water

In the present work, a real-time coaxial sensor for detecting foreign substances in aqueous solutions was developed and tested. This tool, based on a coaxial propagation line for determining the electromagnetic parameters of materials, was updated into a liquid permittivity monitoring sensor of continuous flow. A few solutions of different nature were tested, and while adding a liquid or electrolyte substance, named "pollutant," variations in the base solution were documented. Ethanol and water mixtures were used as reference, while the ability of the system to detect emulsions (such as oil in water solutions) was also evaluated. The system shows great potential for the quantification and qualification of liquid mixtures, having a threshold of reduced volume/volume fractions of foreign substances or pollutants, a property which is shown to be extremely useful in an analogue of high glycaemia (diabetes disease)-thus, opening the possibilities of monitoring biological liquids.