Plasmonic field enhancement in silver-zirconium diselenide-based surface plasmon resonance sensor for the detection of organic materials in wastewater

For the detection of organic materials in wastewater over a long-range refractive index (RI), a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor including the BAF10 prism, silver (Ag), Zirconium Diselenide (ZrSe 2 ), and a sensing layer is proposed. Even a small change in RI can significantly alter the reflectance curve, including sensitivity and resonance angle; therefore, the SPR sensor serves as the best tool for detecting changes in the sensing medium (SM). The primary objective of this setup is to increase the electric field, thereby achieving a notable increase in sensitivity. Our studies demonstrate that the proposed ZrSe 2 -based SPR sensor has a high sensitivity of [Formula: see text]/RIU for the RI range (1.33–1.542). Additionally, the penetration depth (PD) for water and phenol is calculated to be 220.99[Formula: see text]nm and 167.13[Formula: see text]nm, respectively. This development addresses the challenge of identifying extremely slight variations in RI. The suggested sensor also exhibits good fabrication robustness ([Formula: see text] thickness variation) and strong potential for real-time monitoring and organic contaminants such as phenol in wastewater.