Optical transducer for detecting and measuring a contaminant in a gas

摘要

An optical transducer for detecting and measuring a contaminant in a gas comprises: (1) a nematic liquid crystalline phase on an orientation layer as a sensing element in contact with a flow cell (9) for the gas; and (2) a device for measuring and/or detecting changes of the refractive index in the liquid crystalline phase due to interaction of the contaminant. An Independent claim is also included for a method for detecting and/or measuring the concentration of a contaminant in a gas which includes passing the gas through the flow cell.