The feasibility of exploiting novel chemo-sensitive coatings based on cadmium arachidate (CdA)/single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) composites for the development of high performance optical chemo-sensors has been experimentally investigated and proved. SWCNT nano-composite overlays have been transferred on the distal end of standard optical fibers by the Langmuir–Blodgett deposition technique in order to realize extrinsic low-finesse Fabry-Perot interferometers. A structural and morphological characterization of the fabricated optical probes has been carried out by scanning electron microscopy observations and Raman spectroscopy analysis. Reflectance measurements have been carried out to test the sensing performance of the proposed devices to volatile organic compound (VOC) and gas exposure. Also, VOC trace detection has been evaluated in different environments, such as air and water …