Zeolite-Based Optical Detectors

Abstract

The detection of chemical species is a common and required task in several areas of technology. Currently, measurements in dedicated labs are the predominant tools for detection and characterization of chemicals and materials. Although these techniques are available in specialized equipment, their use is often bounded by cost of application or the operator's expertise. Also, in many applications rather than an analysis of all the detectable chemical species, it is only of interest to determine the presence of a particular chemical compound, and if it is present, to quantify its concentration. For these reasons, alternative methods for detecting specific chemical species are required. One case of such methods are the optical chemical sensors, particularly the ones based on the materials known as zeolites. In a broad sense, these sensors are constituted by an optical detector that is modified with zeolites. This combination allows the detection of specific chemical compounds if the zeolitic materials is properly modified to have an optical response for the analyte.