Design and fabrication of non-conventional optical fibers for chemical sensing

• Grant number: 19/22554-4
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2020
• Effective date (End): May 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering - Electrical, Magnetic and Electronic Measurements, Instrumentation
• Principal researcher: Eric Fujiwara
• Grantee: Marco César Prado Soares
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica (FEM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Optical fibers are cylindrical waveguides, usually made of silica or acrylic, and with many potential applications in chemical and biochemical sensing, including detection of gases and vapours, medical analysis, molecular biotechnology, environmental and industrial analysis, bioprocesses control, and even for the monitoring of cellular reproduction. In this project, the fabrication of non-conventional optical fibers for chemical sensing is proposed, highlighting the techniques for fabricating hydrogel-based waveguides and microstructured fibers with hydrogels immobilized inside their cavities. Hydrogels are made up of networks of hydrofilic cross-linked polymers, contain until about 30% of water in their total mass, and show many applications, such as controlled drug release and fabrication of ocullar devices. The production of waveguides from hydrogels allows, then,to obtain biocompatible, biodegradable and low-cost photonic devices, which can occlude fluorescent structures in their matrices, like inorganic quantum dots. These particles, on the other hand, present high costs and toxicity, so a viable alternative for sensing is the use of biocompatible fluorescent carbon nanoparticles, obtained from low-cost sources an by microwave-assisted synthesis, the Carbon nanodots, which can be chemically functionalized for the modification of the light emission patttern when in the presence of substances of interest. The project will focus on the development based on agarose, alginate and gelatin, but other materials and other special fibers fabrication approaches may be tested for comparison, in case of verifying their viability. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ARISTILDE, STENIO; SOARES, MARCO CESAR PRADO; CABRAL, THIAGO D.; RODRIGUES, GILDO; FUJIWARA, ERIC; FRUETT, FABIANO; CORDEIRO, CRISTIANO M. B.. Measurement of Multiphase Flow by Tilted Optical Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor. IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, v. 21, n. 2, p. 1534-1539, JAN 15 2021. (17/25666-2, 19/22554-4, 18/10409-7)

AMATO, FRANCESCO; PRADO SOARES, MARCO CESAR; CABRAL, THIAGO DESTRI; FUJIWARA, ERIC; DE BARROS CORDEIRO, CRISTIANO MONTEIRO; CRIADO, ALEJANDRO; PRATO, MAURIZIO; BARTOLI, JULIO ROBERTO. Agarose-Based Fluorescent Waveguide with Embedded Silica Nanoparticle-Carbon Nanodot Hybrids for pH Sensing. ACS APPLIED NANO MATERIALS, v. 4, n. 9, p. 9738-9751, SEP 24 2021. (19/22554-4)