Anodic Alumina Photonic Crystals as Refractive Index Sensors for Controlling the Composition of Liquid Mixtures

Photonic crystals based on anodic aluminum oxide films are examined as refractive index sensors for controlling the composition of water-alcohol liquid mixtures. The position of the reflectance maximum corresponding to the first photonic stop band is used as the analytical signal. Impregnation of a photonic crystal with water-ethanol and water-glycerol mixtures results in a redshift of the reflectance maximum. A fairly high refractive index sensitivity, sufficient to determine the composition of water-ethanol and water-glycerol mixtures with an accuracy of about 1 wt.%, is observed. The detailed dependencies of the analytical signal on the composition of mixtures are experimentally investigated and compared with numerical calculations. Prospects and limitations of the refractive index sensors based on anodic alumina photonic crystals are discussed.