Development of microwave metamaterial-inspired sensors with multiple-band reactivity for mercury contamination detection

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2022

Abstract

Alternative contactless metamaterial-inspired microwave sensors, composed of a multi-band omnidirectional bowtie antenna and metamaterials, are developed to detect and identify mercury, one of the most widespread toxic heavy metals, in the C-band and S-band, using reflection coefficients. A multi-negative refractive index band metamaterial is specifically designed as a sensing enhancer, where the multi bands can effectively trigger the electromagnetic properties, as well as enhance the differentiation between the mercury samples. The geometry of the metamaterial and its arrangement and orientation are optimized to reach the system highest sensitivity. The proposed sensors were tested on mercury traces of various volumes and weights. Our study has shown that the electromagnetic responses of the mercury in the microwave range are nonlinear, yet predictable. Six distinguishable resonances generated while testing the samples specify the capability of identifying the mercury amount, which can effectively trace mercury contamination in water and seawater.

Publication Title

Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications

DOI

10.1080/09205071.2021.1973914

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