Thin-film oxygen sensors using a luminescent polynuclear gold(I) complex

Robust thin-film oxygen sensors were fabricated by encapsulating a lipophilic, polynuclear gold(I) complex, bis{m-(bis(diphenylphosphino)octadecylamine-P,P')}dichlorodigold(I), in oxygen permeable polystyrene and ormosil matrices. Strong phosphorescence, which was quenched by gaseous and dissolved oxygen, was observed from both matrices. The polystyrene encapsulated dye exhibited downward-turning Stern-Volmer plots which were well fitted by a two-site model. The ormosil trapped complex showed linear Stern-Volmer plots for dissolved oxygen quenching but was downward turning for gaseous oxygen. No leaching was observed when the ormosil based sensors were immersed in flowing water over an 8 h period. Both films exhibited fully reversible response and recovery to changing oxygen concentration with rapid response times. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Novel photocatalyst-based colourimetric indicator for oxygen: Use of a platinum catalyst for controlling response times

The preparation and characterisation of a novel, UV-activated, solvent-based, colourimetric indicator for oxygen is described, comprising a redox dye (methylene blue, MB), semiconductor photocatalyst (Pt-TiO2), and a sacrificial electron donor (SED = glycerol), all dispersed/dissolved in a polymer medium (sulfonated polystyrene. SPS). Upon exposure to UVA light, the Pt-TiO2/MB/glycerol/SPS oxygen indicator is readily photobleached as the MB is converted into its oxygen-sensitive, leuco form, LMB. In contrast to its non-platinised TiO2 counterpart (TiO2/MB/glycerol/SPS oxygen indicator), the recovery of the original colour is faster (ca. 1.5 days cf. 5 days at 21 degrees C). This is due to the catalytic action of the 0.38 wt% platinum loaded onto the semiconductor photocatalyst. TiO2, on the oxidation of the photogenerated LMB by ambient O-2. Furthermore, by increasing the level of platinum loading, recovery times can be decreased further; e.g. a Pt-TiO2/MB/glycerol/SPS oxygen indicator with platinum level of 1.52 wt% recovers fully within 12 h. A study of the kinetics of recovery as a function of film thickness revealed the recovery step is not controlled by the diffusion of O-2 through the film, but instead dependent upon the slow rate of oxidation of LMB to MB by O-2 in the low dielectric polymer encapsulation medium. Other work showed this recovery is only moderately dependant upon temperatures above -10 degrees C and very sensitive to relative humidity above 30% RH. Potential uses of this UV light activated indicator are discussed briefly. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An investigation into the effect of thickness of titanium dioxide and gold-silver nanoparticle titanium dioxide composite thin-films on photocatalytic activity and photo-induced oxygen production in a sacrificial system

Thin films of titanium dioxide and titanium dioxide with incorporated gold and silver nanoparticles were deposited onto glass microscope slides, steel and titanium foil coupons by two sol-gel dip-coating methods. The film's photocatalytic activity and ability to evolve oxygen in a sacrificial solution were assessed. It was found that photocatalytic activity increased with film thickness (from 50 to 500 nm thick samples) for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue in solution and resazurin redox dye in an intelligent ink dye deposited on the surface. Contrastingly, an optimum film thickness of similar to 200 nm for both composite and pure films of titanium dioxide was found for water oxidation, using persulfate (S2O82-) as a sacrificial electron acceptor. The nanoparticle composite films showed significantly higher activity in oxygen evolution studies compared with plain TiO2 films.

Novel photocatalyst-based colourimetric indicator for oxygen

The preparation and characterisation of a novel, UV-activated solvent-based, colourimetric indicator for O-2 is described, comprising a redox dye (methylene blue, MB), semiconductor photocatalyst (TiO2), and a sacrificial electron donor (SED), all dispersed/dissolved in a polymer medium (sulfonated polystyrene, SPS). Upon exposure, the indicator is readily photobleached as the MB is converted into its oxygen-sensitive, leuco form, LMB. Unlike its water-based counterpart, the recovery of the original colour is very slow (ca. 5 days cf. 6 min), probably due to the largely hydrophobic nature of the polymer encapsulation medium. The kinetics of film photobleaching appear to fit very well, in terms of: irradiance, [TiO2] and [MB], to the usual Langmuir-Hinshelwood type equation associated with a photocatalytic process. The glycerol appears not only to function as a SED, but also a plasticizer and medium for dye dissolution. The kinetics of colour recovery of the photobleached film appear directly dependent upon the ambient level of O-2 but shows a more complex dependence upon the relative humidity, RH. The photobleached film does not recover any of its colour over a 24 h period if the RH

Photocatalytic evolution of hydrogen and oxygen from ceramic wafers of commercial titanias

Several commercial titania photocatalyst powders were formed into thin (ca. 350 mu m), 25 mm diameter ceramic wafers, sputter deposited with Pt on one side. The activities of each of the ceramic wafers were tested for hydrogen and oxygen evolution from aqueous sacrificial systems. The commercial sample PC50 (Millennium Chemicals, UK) yielded reproducible ceramic wafers with high activity for water photoreduction. Many of the ceramic wafers displayed low water photo-oxidation activities; however, these were greatly increased with addition of a NiO co-catalyst. In a selected case, hydrogen evolution activity was compared between a PC50 wafer and an identical weight of platinised PC50 powder suspension. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nanocrystalline SnO2-based, UVB-activated, colourimetric oxygen indicator

Nanocrystalline SnO2, ncSnO(2), is used as a photosensitiser in a colourimetric O-2 indicator that comprises a sacrificial electron donor, glycerol, a redox dye, methylene blue (MB), and an encapsulating polymer, hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC). Upon exposure to a burst of UVB light the indicator is activated (photo-bleached) as the MB is photoreduced by the ncSnO(2) particles. In the absence of oxygen, the film stays bleached, but recovers its original colour upon exposure to oxygen. Unlike its TiO2-based predecessor, the HEC/glycerol/MB/ncSnO(2) O-2 indicator is not activated by UVA light from white fluorescent lamps, but is by UVB light. This feature provides much greater control in the activation of the indicator. Other work shows the rate of activation depends upon I-0.75, where I is the UVB irradiance, indicating a partial dependence upon the electron-hole recombination process. The half-life of the recovery of the original colour of a UV-activated film, t(50), is directly proportional to the ambient level of oxygen. The advantages of using this indicator in modified atmosphere packaging as a possible quality assurance indicator are discussed briefly. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A solvent-based intelligence ink for oxygen

A solvent-based, irreversible oxygen indicator ink is described, comprising semiconductor photocatalyst nanoparticles, a solvent-soluble redox dye, mild reducing agent and polymer. Based on such an ink, a film - made of titanium dioxide, a blue, solvent-soluble, coloured ion-paired methylene blue dye, glycerol and the polymer zein - loses its colour rapidly (

Photochemical reduction of oxygen adsorbed to nanocrystalline TiO2 films: A transient absorption and oxygen scavenging study of different TiO2 preparations

Transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) has been used to study the interfacial electron-transfer reaction between photogenerated electrons in nanocrystalline titanium dioxide (TiO2) films and molecular oxygen. TiO2 films from three different starting materials (TiO2 anatase colloidal paste and commercial anatase/rutile powders Degussa TiO2 P25 and VP TiO2 P90) have been investigated in the presence of ethanol as a hole scavenger. Separate investigations on the photocatalytic oxygen consumption by the films have also been performed with an oxygen membrane polarographic detector. Results show that a correlation exists between the electron dynamics of oxygen consumption observed by TAS and the rate of oxygen consumption through the photocatalytic process. The highest activity and the fastest oxygen reduction dynamics were observed with films fabricated from anatase TiO2 colloidal paste. The use of TAS as a tool for the prediction of the photocatalytic activities of the materials is discussed. TAS studies indicate that the rate of reduction of molecular oxygen is limited by interfacial electron-transfer kinetics rather than by the electron trapping/detrapping dynamics within the TiO2 particles.

Dependence of the kinetics of liquid-phase photocatalyzed reactions on oxygen concentration and light intensity

The initial kinetics of the oxidation of 4-chlorophenol, 4-CP, photocatalyzed by titania films and aqueous dispersions were studied as a function of oxygen partial pressure, P-O2, and incident light intensity, I. The reaction conditions were such that the kinetics were independent of [4-CP] but strongly dependent on PO2-a situation that allowed investigation of the less-often studied kinetics of oxygen reduction. The observed kinetics fit a pseudo-steady-state model in which the oxygen is Langmuir-adsorbed on the titania photocatalyst particles before being reduced by photogenerated electrons. The maximum rate of photocatalysis depends directly on I-beta, where, beta = 1 for films and 0.7 for dispersions of titania, indicating that the kinetics are dominated by the surface reactions of the photogenerated electrons and holes for the films and by direct recombination for the powder dispersions. Using the pseudo-first-order model, for both titania films and dispersions, the apparent Langmuir adsorption constant, K-LH, derived from a Langmuir-Hinshelwood analysis of the kinetics, appears to be largely independent of incident light intensity, unlike KLH for 4-CP Consequently, similar values are obtained for the Langmuir adsorption constant, K-ads, extracted from a pseudosteady-state analysis of the kinetics for oxygen on TiO2 dispersions and films in aqueous solution (i.e., ca. 0.0265 +/- 0.005 kPa(-1)), and for both films and dispersions, oxygen appears to be weakly adsorbed on TiO2 compared with 4-CP, at a rate that would take many minutes to reach equilibrium. The value of Kads for oxygen on titania particles dispersed in solution is ca. 4.7 times lower than that reported for the dark Langmuir adsorption isotherm; possible causes for this difference are discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Demonstration of a novel, flexible, photocatalytic oxygen-scavenging polymer film

The preparation of a novel, flexible, photocatalytic, oxygen-scavenging polymer film is described. The film incorporates nanocrystalline titania particles in an ethyl cellulose polymer film, with or without an added sacrificial electron donor of triethanolamine. When coated on the inside of a glass vessel its UV-driven light-scavenging action is demonstrated by platinum octaethyl porphyrin coated glass beads sealed inside, since their luminescence increases with increasing UV-irradiation time. When used as a flexible film, work with an oxygen electrode shows that the film is able to scavenge oxygen at an average rate of 0.017 cm(3) O-2 h(-1) cm(-2) over a 24 h period, which compares favourably to other, well-established oxygen-scavenger systems. The potential of using such as system for oxygen scavenging in packaging is discussed briefly. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Oxygen indicators and intelligent inks for packaging food

The detection of oxygen using optical sensors is of increasing interest, especially in modified atmosphere food packaging (MAP), in which the package, usually containing food, is flushed with a gas, such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen. This tutorial review examines the ideal properties of an oxygen optical sensor for MAP and compares them with those developed to date, including the most recent advances. The basic technologies underpinning the different indicator types are described, examples given and their potential for application in MAP assessed. This tutorial review should be of interest to the MAP industry and researchers in optical sensors and oxygen sensing.

Freestanding polymer-metal oxide nanocomposite films for light-driven oxygen scavenging

Freestanding films containing nanocrystalline TiO2 and a suitable electron donor embedded in a cellulose matrix deoxygenate a closed environment (see Figure) upon UV illumination as a result of the photocatalytic properties of TiO2. This opens up the potential use of semiconductor photocatalysis in active packaging to achieve light-driven deoxygenation of closed environments.

Novel UV-activated colorimetric oxygen indicator

The results of a detailed characterization study of a novel UV-activated colorimetric oxygen indicator are described. The indicator uses nanoparticles of titania to photosensitize the reduction of methylene blue by triethanolamine in a polymer encapsulation medium, using UVA light. Upon UV irradiation, the indicator bleaches and remains in this colorless state in the dark, unless and until it is exposed to oxygen, whereupon its original color is restored. The indicator is reusable and irreversible. The rate of color recovery is proportional to the level of oxygen present. A layer of PET (poly(ethylene terephthalate)), of thickness b, placed on top of the indicator film slows down its response, and the 90% recovery time is proportional to b.

An intelligence ink for oxygen

A generic ink formulation is described, comprising semiconductor photocatalyst particles, a brightly-coloured redox dye, a mild reducing agent, a polymer and a solvent, that creates an irreversible, reusable, UV-light-activated, colorimetric indicator or intelligence ink for oxygen.