Grazing angle photoluminescence of porous alumina as an analytical transducer for gaseous ethanol detection.

Porous alumina was used to build an optical sensor for gaseous ethanol detection. The photoluminescence collected in a grazing angle was used as a transducer signal. The photoluminescence detected with this optical setup shows well resolved Fabry-Pérot type interference fringes at room temperature, whose position and shape are strongly dependent on the ethanol fraction adsorbed on the porous alumina surface.