Polymer Optical Microcavity Sensor for Volatile Organic Compounds with Distinct Selectivity toward Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Airong Qiagedeer; Hiroshi Yamagishi; Shotaro Hayashi; Yohei Yamamoto

doi:10.1021/acsomega.1c02749

Polymer Optical Microcavity Sensor for Volatile Organic Compounds with Distinct Selectivity toward Aromatic Hydrocarbons

ACS Omega. 2021 Aug 5;6(32):21066-21070. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.1c02749. eCollection 2021 Aug 17.

Authors

Airong Qiagedeer¹, Hiroshi Yamagishi^{1

2}, Shotaro Hayashi³, Yohei Yamamoto^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan.
² Tsukuba Research Center for Energy Materials Science (TREMS), Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan.
³ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kochi University of Technology, 185 Miyanokuchi, Tosayamada, Kami, Kochi 782-8502, Japan.

Abstract

A whispering-gallery mode (WGM) optical resonance sensor for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is developed from polystyrene (PS) microspheres doped with fluorescent β-cyano-appended oligo(p-phenylenevinylene) (β-COPV). The β-COPV-doped PS microspheres (MS_COPV) are formed by the miniemulsion method in a binary solvent. MS_COPV expand upon permeation of VOCs into the PS matrix and exhibit a spectral shift of the WGM resonance peak. The permeation efficiency is highly dependent on the chemical affinity between the analyte and the polymer matrix, with exceptionally high selectivity toward aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, and xylenes (BTXs). The high selectivity and sensitivity of MS_COPV are in clear contrast to those of conventional WGM sensors that just detect VOCs nonpreferentially through adsorption onto the surface.