Design of a label free plasmonic nanobiosensor based on hafnium dioxide with aluminium antimonide and iron sesquioxide for fuel adulteration monitoring

Fuel adulteration remains a significant concern because it can reduce engine performance, shorten the service life of engines and machinery, and increase harmful emissions when lower-cost hydrocarbons, such as kerosene, are added to commercial fuels. These issues result in financial losses and environmental hazards, underscoring the need for rapid and precise detection techniques. To solve these issues, we propose a novel sensor that allows fuel quality monitoring by utilizing the principles of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to identify minute variations in the refractive index at a constant wavelength of 633 nm. The present work reports the use of a multilayer structure, including a BAK1 prism, silver (Ag), hafnium dioxide (HfO 2 ), aluminium antimonide (AlSb), and iron sesquioxide (FeO 3 ), to detect fuel adulteration based on the change in refractive index (RI). The performance of the sensor was calculated using key parameters, such as sensitivity, Quality factor (QF), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), figure of merit (FOM), and combined sensitivity factor (CSF). The results obtained from the proposed sensor having sensitivity of 389.91 °/RIU, a QF of 201.193 RIU −1 , a SNR of 0.231, a FOM of 114.481, and CSF of 109.4. This results in the possibility of the accurate detection of fuel adulteration. Graphene, Black phosphorous (BP), Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS 2 ) and molybdenum Di selenide ( MoSe 2 ) are the 2D materials improved the performance of the sensor. The proposed biosensor offers an affordable, quick, and field-deployable fuel quality solution to address the serious environmental and life span issues of machines related to fuel adulteration.