Stable Optical Oxygen Sensing Material Based on Perfluorinated Polymer and Fluorinated Platinum(II) and Palladium(II) Porphyrins

Commercially available dissolved oxygen analyzer with an optical detection method based on phosphorescence quenching was created. The sensitive element of the sensor contains a metal complex of fluorine-substituted porphyrin (platinum(II) or palladium(II) 5,10,15,20-mesotetrakis-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorophenyl)-porphyrin) dissolved in poly(hexafluoropropylene) (PHFP) matrix. Perfluorinated polymer was applied to avoid interaction of singlet oxygen with polymer matrix. The measurement of oxygen concentration is based on the change of the lifetime of the phosphorescent state due to luminescence quenching by molecular oxygen, which is more precise than the intensity detection method. A series of test were performed to estimate metrological characteristics of the analyzer. The presented sensor system exhibits lower noise, higher resolution and higher sensitivity than electrochemical sensors previously used.