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Photochemical reflective optical fiber sensor for selective detection of phenol in aqueous solutions
Abstract:
A photochemical fiber-optic sensor was developed by integrating a plastic optical fiber (POF), polymer membrane, gold mirror, and TiO2-based composite, and was shown to sensitively and selectively detect phenol in aqueous solution. The sensing element consisted of a thinned POF and visible-light-driven SiO2/N-doped TiO2 coating. The gold mirror was used to develop a reflective POF probe. The polymer membrane with high phenol permselectivity was employed to form a micro-channel between the membrane and probe. Our findings highlight the sensor's capability of phenol detection in aqueous solutions with high sensitivity of 0.294×10-3 (mg·L-1)-1, pH immunity ranging from 2.0 to 14.0, and high selectivity with a limit of detection of 30 μg·L-1.
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