SPIN-COATING FOR OPTICAL-OXYGEN-SENSOR PREPARATION

Thin-film oxygen sensors were prepared using the spin-coating technique, where a tris (4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) ruthenium(E) dichloride complex (RuDPP) in various solvents and silicones deposited on different substrates was used for the sensor production. By changing the spin-coating set-up parameters, homogeneous sensor coatings and the optimum sensor response to oxygen were studied - the sensors were exposed to various concentrations of oxygen within the range from 0 % to 100 %. During the presented study, the optimum results were obtained when a 150 pi, of sensor solution was applied to a Dataline foil using silicone E4 and a chloroform solvent. A spin coater with the following three rotation stages was used: 750/700 r/min for 3 s, 300 r/min for 3 s and 150 r/min for 4 s. The spin-coating technique has several benefits: it is fast, easy to use and appropriate for low-volume operations. It allows modifications and preparations of several sensor series using the minimum reagent consumption. However, the disadvantage of this technique also has to be mentioned, namely, an uneven film thickness in the radial direction. The film thickness mainly depends on the experimental set-up (volume, rotation time and speed, solvent viscosity and evaporation). Spin coating as an alternative and very flexible technique for an oxygen-sensor preparation is suggested for the laboratory-scale work, where the majority of experimental data could be used when other new coating methods are also researched and implemented.