Colorimetric Sensor for Detection of Adulteration in Gasoline using Polydiacetyleneelectro-Spun Fibers

We report the successful incorporation of pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA) in poly(Ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) by electro-spinning technique for sensor application. The UV-polymerization of the resulting electrospun fibers mats (EFMs) produced polydiacetylenes (PDA) polymer exhibiting blue color. The PCL-PDA EFMs were characterized by Raman Spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy and FE-SEM analysis. Sensor test results revealed that the treatment of the PCLPDA EFMs with adulterated gasoline showed a blue to red color transition rapidly. FE-SEM images demonstrated that the thinner or toluene used as an adulterant in the gasoline destroyed the PCL electrospun fibers which gave access to PDA polymer producing red color.