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Nanofibre-Based Sensors for Visual and Optical Monitoring

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Book cover Electrospinning for High Performance Sensors

Part of the book series: NanoScience and Technology ((NANO))

Abstract

Sensors supplying a change in optical properties, easily detectable with the naked eye (visual) or inexpensive equipment such as compact spectrometers (optical), are a very powerful tool to visualise a wide range of parameters, including temperature, light, pH and concentration of chemical substances. Most of these sensors rely on indicator compounds showing a change in optical absorbance (colour) or fluorescence under the influence of a certain parameter. Halochromic dyes, for instance, change colour with pH. Since the use of nanofibres improves sensor sensitivity and response time due to their large surface area to volume ratio, the incorporation of indicator compounds into nanofibres is one of the current challenges in sensor design. This chapter discusses the production of colorimetric and fluorescent nanofibrous membranes for visual and optical monitoring (Sects. 7.3 and 7.4), supplemented by some fundamental information on those sensing systems (Sect. 7.2) and some interesting applications (Sect. 7.5).

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Acknowledgement

Financial support from The Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology of Flanders (IWT) is gratefully acknowledged (Strategic Basic Research Grant 111158).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fibre and Colouration Technology Research Group, Department of Textiles, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Technologiepark 907, Ghent, 9052, Belgium

    Iline Steyaert & Karen De Clerck

  2. Research Unit of Physical Chemistry and Polymer Science (FYSC), Department of Materials and Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Brussels, 1050, Belgium

    Iline Steyaert & Hubert Rahier

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  1. Iline Steyaert
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  2. Hubert Rahier
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  3. Karen De Clerck
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Correspondence to Karen De Clerck .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. of Atmospheric Pollution Research (IIA), CNR, Monterotondo-Rome, Italy

    Antonella Macagnano

  2. Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (IIA), CNR, Monterotondo-Rome, Italy

    Emiliano Zampetti

  3. Centre of Electrochemical Surface Technology (CEST), Wiener Neustadt, Austria

    Erich Kny

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Steyaert, I., Rahier, H., De Clerck, K. (2015). Nanofibre-Based Sensors for Visual and Optical Monitoring. In: Macagnano, A., Zampetti, E., Kny, E. (eds) Electrospinning for High Performance Sensors. NanoScience and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14406-1_7

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