An SPR-Based In Situ Methane Sensor for the Aqueous and Gas Phase

This paper presents a fast, low-cost, precise methane sensor based on refractive index changes in a cryptophane A (CryptA)-doped polystyrene membrane. For the realization of this sensor, we built a surface plasmon resonance sensor with a refractive index resolution of 4.31 × 10–6 and investigated the optimal membrane thickness, i.e., a polymer layer of sufficient sensitivity with the lowest response time. For a membrane thickness of 760 nm, a limit of detection of 135 ppm and a response time constant of 45 s were found. Despite a comparable refractive index resolution and a higher CryptA content, the limit of detection is 3 orders of magnitude larger than that of a reported prototype. The sensor is capable of quantifying methane in the gas or aqueous phase. However, temperature, humidity, and ethanol vapor highly influence the signal. Although the principle of CryptA-based methane measurement is a promising, fast, and low-cost method, it will not be able to compete with state-of-the-art sensing in its current state.