An optical fibre long period grating (LPG) modified with a mesoporous film infused with a calixarene as a functional compound was employed for the detection of a mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The sensing mechanism is based on the transduction of the refractive index change induced by the complexion of the VOCs with calixarene into a change in the form of the transmission spectrum of the LPG.
An LPG, modified with a calixarene-infused coating comprising 5 cycles of silica nanoparticles/poly(allylamine hydrochloride) polycation (SiO2/PAH), was exposed to mixture of VOCs emitted from paint at conditions simulating ISO standards test (16000-10).