Hydrogen sulfide sensor based on tapered fiber sandwiched between two molybdenum disulfide/citric acid composite membrane coated long-period fiber gratings

In this work, a novel hydrogen sulfide detection scheme based on tapered fiber seeded in two long-period fiber gratings (LPGs) coated by a molybdenum disulfide/citric acid composite membrane is proposed and fabricated. The input light of a broadband source is coupled twice by passing through two LPGs with identical parameters, from which a Mach–Zehnder interferometer can be formed. The composite sensitive membrane was prepared with molybdenum disulfide and citric acid, which was coated on the surface of the two LPGs. The experimental results show that in the range of 0–70 ppm of hydrogen sulfide, with the increase of gas concentrations the interference spectra appear to blueshift. In addition, a high sensitivity of 16.65 pm/ppm, an excellent linear relationship (R2=0.97721), and high selectivity for hydrogen sulfide are achieved. The effect of temperature is also discussed. The sensor has the advantages of low cost and small volume, and can be used for detection applications at sites where hydrogen sulfide is produced, such as natural gas plants, areas of magmatic activity, coal mines, etc.