Optochemical sensor for sensing O
An optochemical sensor element suitable for sensing an analyte comprises a polymeric material in which at least a portion of the polymer material is solvent crazed to provide a multiplicity of pores of controlled nanometer size, and an indicator dye impregnated into the pores, in which optochemical sensor element the indicator dye is a long-decay photoluminescent dye selected from the group consisting of: phosphorescent platinum(II)—and palladium (II) complexes of porphyrin dyes such as octaethylporphine, coproporphyrin, octaethylporphine-ketone, benzoporphine, tetra (pentafluorophenyl) porphine, chlorin e6; fluorescent complexes of ruthenium (II), osmium(II), iridium(III) and europium (III); or derivatives or close analogs of these dyes. The sensor element in the presence of the analyte alters a photoluminescence parameter thus allowing sensing and/or quantification of the analyte.
1. A process for producing an optochemical sensor suitable for sensing O 2 , said process comprising the steps of:
solvent-crazing an amorphous or semi-crystalline polymeric material selected from high density polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyolefins to form a multiplicity of nanopores having an average pore size of less than 50 nm; and
impregnating the nanopores with molecules of a photoluminescent O 2 sensitive dye having an emission lifetime in the microsecond range,
wherein the resulting optochemical sensor shows a characteristic optical response to O 2 by altering the parameters of its photoluminescence.
2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the solvent-crazing step and the impregnating step are carried out in a single step, and the photoluminescent O 2 sensitive dye is incorporated into the solvent employed in the solvent-crazing step.
3. The process of claim 1 , wherein solvent crazing comprises drawing the polymeric material by a factor of at least 1%.
4. The process of claim 1 , further comprising healing the pores of the polymeric material impregnated with the photoluminescent O 2 sensitive dye.
5. The process of claim 4 , wherein healing the pores comprises drying the solvent crazed polymeric material.
6. The process of claim 5 , further comprising stretching or heat treating the relaxed polymeric material.
7. The process of claim 1 , wherein providing a polymeric material comprises providing a polymeric material having an elongated form and a thickness of from 5 to 500 μm.
8. An optochemical sensor suitable for sensing O 2 , said sensor being manufactured by the process of claim 1 .
9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the photoluminescent O 2 sensitive dye is Pt(II)-octaethylporphine-ketone or Pd(II) octaethylporphine-ketone.
10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the photoluminescent O 2 sensitive dye is selected from the group consisting of Pt(II) and Pd(II) complexes of tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) porphine, octaethylporphine, tetraphenylporphine, or benzoporphyrin; and long-decay fluorescent complexes of Ru(II)polypyridyl, cyclometalated iridium(III), or osmium(II).