Thermally emissive sensing materials for chemical spectroscopy analysis

• US 9,964,494 B1
• Filed: 05/20/2016
• Issued: 05/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: US Department of Energy (Government of the United States of America)
• Original Assignee: US Department of Energy (Government of the United States of America)
• Inventors: Poole, Zsolt, Ohodnicki, Paul R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hixson, Christopher Adam
• Application Number:
  US15/160,389
• Time in Patent Office: 718 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F28F 13/00 Arrangements for modifying heat-transfer, e.g. increasing, decreasing F28F1/00 - F28F11/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F28F 13/18 by applying coatings, e.g. radiation-absorbing, radiation-reflecting; by surface treatment, e.g. polishing
• CPC Class Codes: F28F 21/081 Heat exchange elements made from metals or metal alloys
• CPC Class Codes: F28F 21/086 from titanium or titanium alloys
• CPC Class Codes: F28F 21/089 Coatings, claddings or bonding layers made from metals or metal alloys F28F19/06 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2021/7709 Distributed reagent, e.g. over length of guide
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2021/772 Tip coated light guide
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2021/7736 exposed, cladding free
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/554 detecting the surface plasmon resonance of nanostructured metals, e.g. localised surface plasmon resonance
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/7703 using reagent-clad optical fibres or optical waveguides using measurement of total internal reflection or attenuated total reflection G01N21/552; optical fibres or waveguides per se G02B
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/04 formed by bundles of fibres G02B6/24 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/10 of the optical waveguide type G02B6/02, G02B6/24 take precedence; devices or arrangements for the control of light by electric, magnetic, electro-magnetic or acoustic means G02F1/00; transferring the modulation of modulated light G02F2/00; optical logic elements G02F3/00; optical analogue/digital converters G02F7/00

Abstract

A sensor using thermally emissive materials for chemical spectroscopy analysis includes an emissive material, wherein the emissive material includes the thermally emissive materials which emit electromagnetic radiation, wherein the electromagnetic radiation is modified due to chemical composition in an environment; and a detector adapted to detect the electromagnetic radiation, wherein the electromagnetic radiation is indicative of the chemical interaction changes and hence chemical composition and/or chemical composition changes of the environment. The emissive material can be utilized with an optical fiber sensor, with the optical fiber sensor operating without the emissive material probed with a light source external to the material.

Claims

1. An optical fiber sensor utilizing thermally emissive materials for chemical spectroscopy analysis, the sensor comprising:

an emissive material, wherein the emissive material comprises the thermally emissive materials comprising one of TiO₂, Pd—

TiO₂, and Au—

TiO₂ nanocomposites, with varied properties comprising high conductivity, hydrogen absorptivity, and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) based activity in nitrogen and in oxygen containing high-temperature environments, perovskite oxide, strontium titanate (SrTiO₃) or doped SrTiO₃, one of which emit electromagnetic radiation, wherein the electromagnetic radiation is modified due to chemical composition in an environment;

the optical fiber sensor comprising a distributed optical fiber sensor with a plurality of emissive materials each operating at different wavelengths, the optical fiber operating without the emissive material probed with a light source external to the material; and

a detector adapted to detect the electromagnetic radiation, wherein the electromagnetic radiation is indicative of the chemical interaction changes and hence chemical composition and/or chemical composition changes of the environment.

2. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the optical fiber sensor comprises an optical fiber sensor coupled to the detector, wherein the emissive material is one of deposited on a core or the end-face of the optical fiber, coated on the optical fiber, and integrated with the optical fiber to derive information about the chemical composition of the environment.

3. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the optical fiber sensor comprises an optical fiber coupled to the detector, wherein the emissive material is integrated with one of a core, a cladding, and a combination of the core and the cladding of the optical fiber to derive information about the chemical composition of the environment.

4. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the detector comprises two detectors each at opposite ends of an optical fiber of the optical fiber sensor which monitors an output from the emissive material to derive information about the chemical composition of the environment and spatial dependence of the chemical composition.

5. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the emissive material interacts with environment chemistry to provide an altered emissivity observed via high isolation with respect to background interferences through tunneling to the optical fiber sensor by overlapping the emissive material near-field and optical fiber evanescent regions.

6. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the emissive material is integrated with the optical fiber.

7. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the emissive material comprises one of the thermally emissive materials directly disposed to a material, the thermally emissive materials on an underlayer, the thermally emissive materials embedded in a matrix phase, a monolithic film with the thermally emissive materials, and the thermally emissive materials embedded in a multi-layer stack and/or overcoated by another thin film layer.

8. A method for chemical spectroscopy analysis with a sensor using thermally emissive materials, the method comprising:

emitting radiation by the thermally emissive materials responsive to thermal energy which is altered based on chemical interaction changes in an environment, the thermally emissive materials comprising one of TiO₂, Pd—

TiO₂, and Au—

TiO₂ nanocomposites, with varied properties comprising high conductivity, hydrogen absorptivity, and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) based activity in nitrogen and in oxygen containing high-temperature environments, perovskite oxide, strontium titanate (SrTiO₃) or doped SrTiO₃; and

operating an optical fiber without the emissive material probed with a light source external to the material, the optical fiber sensor comprising a distributed optical fiber sensor with a plurality of emissive materials each operating at different wavelengths; and

detecting the radiation using a detector, wherein the electromagnetic radiation is indicative of the chemical interaction changes and hence chemical composition and/or chemical composition changes of the environment.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

detecting the radiation by the detector coupled to an optical fiber of an optical fiber sensor, wherein the detector operates without the emissive material probed with a light source external to the material.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the emissive material is one of deposited on a core of the optical fiber, coated on the optical fiber, and integrated with the optical fiber.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the emissive material interacts with environment chemistry to provide an altered emissivity observed via high isolation through tunneling to the optical fiber by overlapping the emissive material near-field and optical fiber evanescent regions.

12. An optical fiber sensor using thermally emissive materials for chemical spectroscopy analysis, the sensor comprising:

an emissive material, wherein the emissive material comprises the thermally emissive materials comprising one of TiO₂, Pd—

TiO₂, and Au—

TiO₂ nanocomposites, with varied properties comprising high conductivity, hydrogen absorptivity, and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) based activity in nitrogen and in oxygen containing high-temperature environments, perovskite oxide, strontium titanate (SrTiO₃) or doped SrTiO₃, one of which emit electromagnetic radiation, wherein the electromagnetic radiation is modified due to chemical composition in an environment;

the optical fiber sensor comprises a bundled fiber with a plurality of optical fibers therein with the emissive material to provide distributed sensing,

the optical fiber operating without the emissive material probed with a light source external to the material; and

a detector adapted to detect the electromagnetic radiation, wherein the electromagnetic radiation is indicative of the chemical interaction changes and hence chemical composition and/or chemical composition changes of the environment.

13. The sensor of claim 12, wherein the optical fiber sensor comprises an optical fiber coupled to the detector, wherein the emissive material is one of deposited on a core or the end-face of the optical fiber, coated on the optical fiber, and integrated with the optical fiber to derive information about the chemical composition of the environment.

14. The sensor of claim 12, wherein the optical fiber sensor comprises an optical fiber coupled to the detector, wherein the emissive material is integrated with one of a core, a cladding, and a combination of the core and the cladding of the optical fiber to derive information about the chemical composition of the environment.

15. The sensor of claim 12, wherein the detector comprises two detectors each at opposite ends of an optical fiber of the optical fiber sensor which monitors an output from the emissive material to derive information about the chemical composition of the environment and spatial dependence of the chemical composition.

16. The sensor of claim 12, wherein the optical fiber sensor comprises a distributed optical fiber sensor with a plurality of emissive materials each operating at different wavelengths.