A photonic crystal material for the online detection of nonpolar hydrocarbon vapors

A modern level of nanotechnology allows us to create conceptually new test systems for chemical analyses and to develop sensitive and compact sensors for various types of substances. However, at present, there are very few commercially available compact sensors for the determination of toxic and carcinogenic substances, such as organic solvents that are used in some construction materials. This article contains an overview of how 3D photonic crystals are used for the creation of a new test system for nonpolar organic solvents. The morphology and structural parameters of the photonic crystals, based upon a crystalline colloidal array with a sensing matrix of polydimethylsiloxane, have been determined by using scanning electron microscopy and by the results of specular reflectance spectroscopy based on the Bragg–Snell law. A new approach has been proposed for the application of this sensor in chemical analysis for the qualitative detection of saturated vapors of volatile organic compounds due to configuration changes of the photonic bandgap, recorded by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The exposure of the sensor to aromatic (benzene, toluene and p-xylene) and aliphatic (n-pentane, n-heptane, n-octane and n-decane) hydrocarbons has been analyzed. The reconstitution of spectral parameters of the sensor during the periodic detection of saturated vapors of toluene has been evaluated.