Development of a Novel Liquid Crystal Sensor for Pollen Detection

Abstract

In this study, we have reported liquid crystal based-sensor for the detection of pollen concentrationwhich triggers an allergy. Cholesteric liquid crystal which is mesophase of thermotropic liquidcrystals was used a sensing element in the pollen sensor. The cholesteric liquid crystal samplesoperating at room temperature were formulated using nematic liquid crystal and chiral dopants indifferent compositions. The pollen concentration which is embedded in the cholesteric liquid crystalwas determined as a function of change in color of cholesteric liquid crystal in the prototype. Wedemonstrated that the variation of color from green to blue with the increasing pollen concentrationusing Ocean Optics spectrophotometer. Therefore, the rapid and easy determination of pollenconcentration have been became possible by using this prototype. Our sensor will provide simplicityand self-test as a screen of pollen concentration by using the optical advantage of cholesteric liquidcrystal as a sensing element.