Highly Sensitive Optical-fiber Humidity Sensor Based on Nafion-PVA Sol-gel

A highly sensitive optical-fiber humidity sensor is demonstrated in this paper. By using NafionPVA sol-gel and single-mode optical fibers, the Fabry-Perot humidity sensor is easily fabricated. In the humidity range of 29%-72%, humidity-response experiments are carried out with a cycle of rising and falling humidity to investigate humidity-response characteristics. The experimental results show 2.25 nm/%RH sensitivity and a 0.9997 linear correlation coefficient, with good consistency. The changes in optical-path difference (OPD) and free spectral range (FSR) with humidity are also discussed. The humidity sensitivities of a typical sensor are 80.3 nm/%RH (OPD) and 0.03 nm/%RH (FSR). Furthermore, many humidity sensors with different Nafion-PVA sol-gel concentration and initial cavity length are experimentally investigated for humidity response. The results show that the sensitivity increases with higher Nafion ratio of the Nafion-PVA sol-gel. The influence of changing cavity length on sensitivity is not obvious. These results are helpful to research on optical-fiber humidity sensors with good performance, easy fabrication, and low cost.