Enhanced stability of ruthenium complex in ionic liquid doped electrospun fibers

Utilization of electrospun polymer fibers for optical gas sensing purposes results with many advantages such as increasing in surface area, sensitivity and an enhancement in all sensor dynamics. In this study, oxygen sensitive fibers of polymethyl methacrylate and ethyl cellulose were fabricated by electrospinning technique. We utilized water miscible and immiscible ionic liquids, and perfluoro compounds as additives. Steady state and lifetime based spectral response of the fluorescent tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II)chloride (Ru(bipy)32+) was measured as analytical signal in the absence and presence of the gaseous oxygen. The method can only be applied for gas samples. The stability of the Ru dye in the employed matrix materials was superior to the previously reported ones and when stored at the ambient air of the laboratory there was no significant drift in intensity after 44 months. Our stability tests are still in progress.