An Advanced Hand-Held Microfiber-Based Sensor for Ultrasensitive Lead Ion Detection

This study demonstrated a l-glutathione-modified nonadiabatic microfiber sensor to detect a trace level of heavy metal ions in aqueous solution. The sensor showed an exclusively selective response to Pb²⁺ among other metal ions and a measured detection limit of 5 μg/L, lower than the maximum allowable limit of Pb²⁺ in drinking water by the World Health Organization. Moreover, a novel compact all-fiber-based interrogation scheme was proposed to promote the development of a portable hand-held system for on-site measurement. The presented scheme does not require costly and bulky laboratory equipment but operates based on the reflected optical power of two fiber Bragg gratings (FBG), measured using photodetectors independently.