Detection of low-concentration heavy metal exploiting Tamm resonance in a porous TiO 2 photonic crystal.
Asmaa M ElsayedAshour M AhmedArafa H AlyM F EissaM T TammamPublished in: RSC advances (2024)
The detection of heavy metal ions, particularly Hg 2+ , has gained significant attention due to their severe adverse effects on human health and ecosystems. Conventional methods for monitoring these metals in freshwater often suffer from limitations in sensitivity, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness. This work introduces a novel heavy metal sensor based on Tamm resonance within a one-dimensional (1D) porous TiO 2 photonic crystal structure. The sensor design includes a prism, a silver (Ag) layer, a cavity, and a ternary multilayer porous TiO 2 layer. Reflectance spectra are analyzed using the transfer matrix method. A key aspect of this study is the optimization of sensor performance, which involves adjusting the thicknesses of all layers and the porosity of the multilayer porous TiO 2 . This optimization strategy is critical for achieving high sensitivity. The results demonstrate that the optimized sensor exhibits a high sensitivity of 0.045 nm ppm -1 for Hg 2+ solutions. This sensitivity arises from the effective integration of Tamm resonance with the properties of the porous TiO 2 photonic crystal. The proposed structure shows great potential for applications in heavy metal sensing, especially for detecting Hg 2+ ion contamination in drinking water with high sensitivity and accuracy. In addition to its high performance, the photonic crystal sensor offers extended lifetime, rapid measurement capabilities, cost-effectiveness, and potential for integration into compact devices, making it a promising solution for environmental monitoring and water quality assessment.
Keyphrases
- heavy metals
- human health
- risk assessment
- health risk
- health risk assessment
- quantum dots
- visible light
- drinking water
- energy transfer
- metal organic framework
- climate change
- crystal structure
- high speed
- loop mediated isothermal amplification
- highly efficient
- sewage sludge
- tissue engineering
- aqueous solution
- sensitive detection
- fluorescent probe
- emergency department
- high resolution
- living cells
- label free
- mass spectrometry
- reduced graphene oxide
- adverse drug
- single molecule