Scotch Tape Optical Vapor Sensor for Ethanol-Methanol Mixtures

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Accurate detection of ethanol-methanol mixtures is crucial for various industrial and safety applications.
• Conventional sensing methods may lack selectivity or require complex instrumentation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simple, cost-effective optical vapor sensor for analyzing ethanol-methanol mixtures.
• To investigate the sensor's selectivity, detection limits, and performance characteristics.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing conventional adhesive tape as the sensing material.
• Measuring changes in transmitted optical power due to vapor sorption by the adhesive.
• Exposing the sensor to various concentrations of ethanol-methanol vapors.

Main Results:

• The optical sensor demonstrated high selectivity for ethanol over methanol.
• A linear detection range of 0-100 vol% was achieved for ethanol-methanol mixtures.
• Detection limits were found to be 8.8 vol% for ethanol and 17.6 vol% for methanol.

Conclusions:

• Adhesive tape-based optical sensors offer a promising approach for selective ethanol-methanol vapor analysis.
• The sensor's simplicity and cost-effectiveness make it suitable for practical applications.
• Further studies on repeatability, reproducibility, and interference are warranted.