Dual luminescent arrays sensor fabricated by inkjet-printing of pressure- and temperature-sensitive paints

A novel dual luminescent sensor, which consists of discrete dot arrays of pressure-and temperature-sensitive paints (PSP and TSP), has been developed for a precise pressure measurement on a solid surface. The sensor arrays were well-ordered by inkjet-printing of PSP and TSP solutions. Since pressure- and temperature-sensitive luminophores are isolated from each other, the dual luminescent arrays sensor avoids the interaction between the two luminophores that has been one of the major issues of conventional dual luminescent sensors. It is an advantage of the dual-array sensor that an optimal solvent and an optimal binding material can be used for each luminophore. In this study, a 2-propanol solution of PtTFPP and a toluene solution of ZnS-AgInS2 (ZAIS) nano-particles were employed as PSP and TSP solutions, respectively. The newly developed dual-array sensor could prevent the interaction between PtTFPP and ZAIS that was observed in the mixture sensor of these luminophores, and had comparable pressure and temperature sensitivities with conventional PSP or TSP. Moreover, the pressure distribution on the surface with a non-uniform temperature distribution was successfully measured by the dual-array sensor. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.