Flexible porphyrin doped polymer optical fibers for rapid and remote nosing of trace DNT vapor

With the rapid growth of anti-terrorist activities worldwide, it becomes an emerging requirement to rapidly and accurately detect the hidden explosive threats. However, the safety issue during the explosive materials detection, e.g. unexpected explosion, is still an insurmountable challenge. In this study, we design and mass-produce a novel kind of flexible 5,10,15,20-tetrakis (4-aminophenyl) porphyrin doped polymer optical fibers (PPOF) for rapid and accurate nosing of trace 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT) vapor based on the DNT induced florescence quenching mechanism. The influence of doping concentration, bending, temperature on sensing performance is investigated. PPOF shows immunity to bending, enabling it working in harsh environment. It is experimentally demonstrated that the limit of detection and response time of the proposed PPOF could reach around 120 ppb and 3 minutes, respectively, which are much better than other techniques. Based on its inherent advantages including low-cost, remote-control capability, compatibility with optical communication networking, PPOF can be constructed the quasi-distributed sensing networking of explosive matters in the further, providing a new strategy for anti-terrorist.