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Optical Sensors for Gas Monitoring
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Optical Sensors for Gas Monitoring

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Optical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 January 2026 | Viewed by 6811

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Vanda Pereira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. i3N & Department of Physics, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitario de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
2. ISOPlexis—Sustainable Agriculture and Food Technology Center, University of Madeira, Campus da Penteada, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal
Interests: food science and technology; chromatography; optical fiber sensors; mass spectrometry; odor detection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Marta S. Ferreira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
i3N and Department of Physics, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitario de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: optical fiber sensors; microstructured optical fibers; optofluidics; interferometers; physical and chemical sensing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. João Micael Leça

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
1. Institute of Nanostructures, Nanomodelling and Nanofabrication (i3N), University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
2. ISOPlexis–Sustainable Agriculture and Food Technology Center, University of Madeira, Campus da Penteada, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal
Interests: food science; optical fiber sensors; mass spectrometry; photodiode array detection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A variety of sensing tools are playing increasingly important roles in many applications, making data collection more feasible and easier, even in unusual places. Nowadays, several sensor technologies are rapidly being developed and improved, and at the same time they are becoming less expensive, smaller, and easily portable. In this way, optical sensors demonstrate great potential for the future. Though there are several kinds of sensors available on the commercial market to detect the presence of gases (namely toxic gases, combustible gases, and VOCs) or even gas mixtures, optical gas sensors are rapidly becoming the best method for their monitoring.

Most rely on a change in the effective refractive index and present several advantages, among them: cost-effectiveness, small sample volume usage, simple remote sensing without relying on local power requirements, high flexibility, low propagating loss, immunity to electromagnetic interference and the capacity for multiplexing designs that enable distributed sensor configurations. Besides atmospheric and environment pollution control, there are several industries that have recognized the potential of this type of sensor, including the energy, transport, and construction sectors, but also the food, chemical and medical industries.

This upcoming Special Issue invites you to submit your manuscripts (short communications, original research experimental and theoretical papers, and review articles) regarding advances in the fundamental research and development of optical sensors for the detection of gases, including new sensor platforms and configurations, sensing mechanisms and innovative applications. These contributions may focus on, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • New optical sensors for gas sensing based on colorimetry, fluorescence, metal–organic frameworks, surface plasmon resonance, spectroscopy, remote sensors, or optical fiber sensors.
  • Applications of gas sensors in food, environmental, biological, and general chemical analyses.
  • Microstructured optical fibers in gas sensing.
  • New sensing materials for optical fiber functionalization in gas detection.

Dr. Vanda Pereira
Dr. Marta S. Ferreira
Dr. João Micael Leça
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • optical fiber sensors
  • colorimetric sensors
  • fluorescence sensors
  • metal organic frameworks
  • surface plasmon resonance
  • gas sensing
  • spectroscopy
  • remote sensing
  • microstructured optical fibers
  • sensing material
  • in situ monitoring

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 3073 KiB  
Article
A Novel Fiber-Optical Fabry–Perot Microtip Sensor for 2-Propanol
by João M. Leça, Paulo Antunes, Florinda M. Costa, António J. S. Teixeira and Marta S. Ferreira
Sensors 2025, 25(7), 2178; https://doi.org/10.3390/s25072178 - 29 Mar 2025
Viewed by 298
Abstract
2-Propanol in the gaseous phase of clinical samples can serve as a biomarker for disease diagnosis. In this context, a novel fiber-optic Fabry–Perot (FP) interferometric sensor with a microtip structure was developed using the light-guided induced polymerization technique. The optical fiber sensor (OFS) [...] Read more.
2-Propanol in the gaseous phase of clinical samples can serve as a biomarker for disease diagnosis. In this context, a novel fiber-optic Fabry–Perot (FP) interferometric sensor with a microtip structure was developed using the light-guided induced polymerization technique. The optical fiber sensor (OFS) with the best performance, measuring approximately 15 µm in length, exhibited good sensitivity to 2-propanol, with a response of −71.1 ± 2.1 pm/ppm. Additionally, it demonstrated good stability, with a maximum standard deviation of 0.15 nm and an estimated resolution of 3.18 ppm. The good sensitivity and ease of fabrication of this OFS highlight its potential for biomedical applications, particularly in non-invasive disease detection, given the role of 2-propanol as a biomarker for various health conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Sensors for Gas Monitoring)
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14 pages, 2461 KiB  
Article
Assessment of PM2.5 Concentration at University Transit Bus Stops Using Low-Cost Aerosol Monitors by Student Commuters
by Will Murray, Qiang Wu, Jo Anne G. Balanay and Sinan Sousan
Sensors 2024, 24(14), 4520; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24144520 - 12 Jul 2024
Viewed by 2051
Abstract
Particulate matter of 2.5 µm and smaller (PM2.5) is known to cause many respiratory health problems, such as asthma and heart disease. A primary source of PM2.5 is emissions from cars, trucks, and buses. Emissions from university transit bus systems [...] Read more.
Particulate matter of 2.5 µm and smaller (PM2.5) is known to cause many respiratory health problems, such as asthma and heart disease. A primary source of PM2.5 is emissions from cars, trucks, and buses. Emissions from university transit bus systems could create zones of high PM2.5 concentration at their bus stops. This work recruited seven university students who regularly utilized the transit system to use a low-cost personal aerosol monitor (AirBeam) each time they arrived at a campus bus stop. Each participant measured PM2.5 concentrations every time they were at a transit-served bus stop over four weeks. PM2.5 concentration data from the AirBeam were compared with an ADR-1500 high-cost monitor and EPA PM2.5 reference measurements. This methodology allowed for identifying higher-than-average concentration zones at the transit bus stops compared to average measurements for the county. By increasing access to microenvironmental data, this project can contribute to public health efforts of personal protection and prevention by allowing individuals to measure and understand their exposure to PM2.5 at the bus stop. This work can also aid commuters, especially those with pre-existing conditions who use public transportation, in making more informed health decisions and better protecting themselves against new or worsening respiratory conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Sensors for Gas Monitoring)
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20 pages, 9119 KiB  
Article
SiNx/SiO2-Based Fabry–Perot Interferometer on Sapphire for Near-UV Optical Gas Sensing of Formaldehyde in Air
by Reinoud Wolffenbuttel, Declan Winship, David Bilby, Jaco Visser, Yutao Qin and Yogesh Gianchandani
Sensors 2024, 24(11), 3597; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24113597 - 3 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3604
Abstract
Fabry–Perot interferometers (FPIs), comprising foundry-compatible dielectric thin films on sapphire wafer substrates, were investigated for possible use in chemical sensing. Specifically, structures comprising two vertically stacked distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs), with the lower DBR between a sapphire substrate and a silicon-oxide (SiO2 [...] Read more.
Fabry–Perot interferometers (FPIs), comprising foundry-compatible dielectric thin films on sapphire wafer substrates, were investigated for possible use in chemical sensing. Specifically, structures comprising two vertically stacked distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs), with the lower DBR between a sapphire substrate and a silicon-oxide (SiO2) resonator layer and the other DBR on top of this resonator layer, were investigated for operation in the near-ultraviolet (near-UV) range. The DBRs are composed of a stack of nitride-rich silicon-nitride (SiNx) layers for the higher index and SiO2 layers for the lower index. An exemplary application would be formaldehyde detection at sub-ppm concentrations in air, using UV absorption spectroscopy in the 300–360 nm band, while providing spectral selectivity against the main interfering gases, notably NO2 and O3. Although SiNx thin films are conventionally used only for visible and near-infrared optical wavelengths (above 450 nm) because of high absorbance at lower wavelengths, this work shows that nitride-rich SiNx is suitable for near-UV wavelengths. The interplay between spectral absorbance, transmittance and reflectance in a FPI is presented in a comparative study between one FPI design using stoichiometric material (Si3N4) and two designs based on N-rich compositions, SiN1.39 and SiN1.49. Spectral measurements confirm that if the design accounts for phase penetration depth, sufficient performance can be achieved with the SiN1.49-based FPI design for gas absorption spectroscopy in near-UV, with peak transmission at 330 nm of 64%, a free spectral range (FSR) of 20 nm and a full-width half-magnitude spectral resolution (FWHM) of 2 nm. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Sensors for Gas Monitoring)
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