Detection of kerosene adulteration in automobile fuel by a low-loss surface plasmon resonance (SPR) chemical sensor.

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) chemical sensor with gold as the sensitive material has been designed to detect the adulteration of petrol by kerosene. Samples of petrol adulterated with kerosene were prepared in different ratios by volume (v/v). Kerosene concentrations ranging from 0% to 80% can be detected by monitoring the optical spectra, and the properties of the sensor were analyzed using the COMSOL Multiphysics software. The sensor shows a high spectral sensitivity of 7117 nm per RIU and a sensing resolution of 1.4 × 10 -4 RIU. The excellent sensing properties and a low confinement loss of 5.4 dB cm -1 render the sensor competitive in SPR sensing applications.