Sensor for real-time monitoring of food degradation

	Clean Technology 2008 Chapter 6: Green Chemistry & Sustainable Industry Practices
	Sensor for real-time monitoring of food degradation
Authors:	N. Ibrisimovic, M. Bauer, F. Pittner
Affilation:	University Vienna, AT
Pages:	372 - 375
Keywords:	optical thin film sensor, anomalous absorption, food spoilage, biodegradable polymer
Abstract:	The aim of our novel approach was to create a simple and cheap sensor providing reasonable sensitivity and selectivity to indicate the “best use before” period combined with a memory effect that cannot easily be corrupted. We have developed an optical thin film sensor chip able to detect the decay of food through a specific colour change. The design of the sensor relates to the phenomenon of “anomalous absorption”, which can best be described as a thin film enhanced absorption. A metal cluster film positioned at a well defined distance to a smooth metal surface shows that the minimum of spectral reflectivity strongly depends on the thickness of the interlayer: This setup represents a special kind of reflection interference filter. In such a sensor setup we have integrated a biodegradable polymer which is degraded by the same enzymes and at the same rate as food decay will happen. The degradation of the polymer results in reduction of the film thickness and thus in a specific change of the color.
ISBN:	1-4200-8502-0
Pages:	724
Order:	Online/Mail/Fax Ordering Options
Indexes:	Keywords, Authors, Affiliations
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Clean Technology 2008

Chapter 6: Green Chemistry & Sustainable Industry Practices

Sensor for real-time monitoring of food degradation