Optical oxygen sensing properties of Ru(II) complex and porous silica nanoparticles embedded in solgel matrix

This paper presents a high-sensitivity oxygen sensor that comprises an optical fiber coated at one end with tris(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) ruthenium(II) ([Ru(dpp)(3)](2+)) and porous silica nanoparticles embedded in an n-octyltriethoxysilane (Octyl-triEOS)/tetraethylorthosilane (TEOS) composite xerogel. The sensitivity of the optical oxygen sensor is quantified in terms of the ratio I-N2/I-O2, where I-N2 and I-O2 represent the detected fluorescence intensities in pure nitrogen and pure oxygen environments, respectively. The experimental results show that the oxygen sensor has a sensitivity of 26. The response time was 2 s when switching from pure nitrogen to pure oxygen, and 7.7 s when switching in the reverse direction. The experimental results show that compared to an oxygen sensor based on Ru(II) complex immobilized in the solgel matrix, the proposed optical fiber oxygen sensor has higher sensitivity. In addition to the increased surface area per unit mass of the sensing surface, the porous silica nanoparticles increase the sensitivity because a substantial number of aerial oxygen molecules penetrate the porous silica shell. The proposed optical sensor has the advantages of easy fabrication, low cost, fast response, and high sensitivity for oxygen monitoring using a cheap LED as a light source. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America