High-Sensitive Fiber-Optic pH Sensor Using Neutral Red Immobilized in Porous Sol-Gel Film

In this study, a fiber-optic pH sensor based on a pH sol-gel film is fabricated. The sol-gel film is made by co-polymerizing tetramethoxysilane, trimethoxymethylsilane, ethanol and distilled water. As a pH indicator, a neutral red is immobilized in a thin porous film formed by the sol-gel process. The pH change in a sensing probe gives rise to a change in the color of the pH sol-gel film, and the absorbance of reflected light through the pH sol-gel film is also changed. By using a spectrometer, therefore, the spectra of reflected lights in the sensing probe with different pH values are measured. Also, the relationships between the pH values and the absorbance are analyzed on the basis of the color variations of the pH sol-gel films. In repeated experiments, the fiber-optic pH sensor shows that it has reversibility, a high reproducibility and a wide absorbance change in a pH range from pH 5 to 9. Also, we confirmed that the fabricated pH sol-gel film exhibits a fast response time, little or no pH indicator leaching and a dynamic range of 2.04 dB from pH 5 to 9. Based on the results of this study, a fiber-optic pH sensor can be developed for the pH monitoring in the harsh environments.