Planar electromagnetic wave sensor for instantaneous assessment of pesticides in water

This paper reports on the development of a novel electromagnetic wave sensor for real-time monitoring of presence and concentration of pesticides in water. In particular, the change in the electromagnetic wave signal in microwave frequency range is used as an indicator of water quality. The sensing element was designed on a FR4 substrate and the planar inderdigitated pattern was printed on top of the sensor from Au material to avoid any chemical reaction between the solution tested and the sensor itself. The performance of the developed system was tested on two commercially available pesticides and the results confirmed the viability of using microwaves for realtime water purity monitoring as the corresponding spectra for these pesticides were unique and clearly depicted a shift in the resonant frequencies of the sensor when it was placed in contact with water samples.