Highly sensitive fiber-optic chemical pH sensor based on surface modification of optical fiber with ZnCdSe/ZnS quantum dots

The pH value plays a vital role in many biological and chemical reactions. In this work, the fiber-optic chemical pH sensors were fabricated based on carboxyl ZnCdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) and tapered optical fiber. The photoluminescence (PL) intensity of QDs is pH-dependence because protonation and deprotonation can affect the process of electron-hole recombination. The evanescent wave of tapered optical fiber was used as excitation source in the process of PL. To obtain higher sensitivity, the end faces of fiber were optimized for cone region. By lengthening the cone region and shrinking the end diameter of optical fiber, evanescent wave was enhanced and the excitation times of QDs were increased, which improved the PL intensity and the sensitivity of the sensor. The sensitivity of sensor can reach as high as 0.139/pH in the range of pH 6.00–9.01. The surface functional modification was adopted to prepare sensing films. The carboxyl groups on the QDs ligands are chemically bonded to the fiber surface, which is good for response time (40 s) and stability (decreased 0.9 % for 5 min). These results demonstrated that ZnCdSe/ZnS QDs-based fiber-optic chemical pH sensors are promising approach in rapid and precise pH detection. [Display omitted] •The highly sensitive fiber-optic chemical pH sensors based on carboxyl ZnCdSe/ZnS quantum dots were studied.•Cone optimization can enhance evanescent wave intensity, depth of penetration, and frequency of generation.•The end faces of fiber were optimized for cone region to obtain higher sensitivity (0.139/pH, in the range of pH 6.00–9.01).•The sensing films were prepared by surface modification of cone region to reduce the response time (t90