A chemiresistor sensor based on a cobalt(salen) metallopolymer for dissolved molecular oxygen

Abstract

A resistance detection device for dissolved molecular oxygen in aqueous solutions is prepared using a chemiresistor material as sensor platform. The chemiresistive circuit element is fashioned from a thin film of a cobalt-salen metallopolymer electrodeposited on a platinum electrode. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy shows that the resistive and capacitive properties of the sensor platform depend on the presence of dissolved oxygen. The electrical circuit models are R(Q/R)(Q/R) and R(Q/R)(Q/RW) in the absence and presence of oxygen, respectively. The chemiresistor sensor exhibits good sensitivity (0.483 kΩ L mg−1), excellent reversibility and excellent linearity over a range of dissolved oxygen concentrations typically found under environmental conditions (2.72–40.9 mg L−1). The sensor fabricated in this work can potentially serve as an alternative sensor for the detection of dissolved oxygen in environmental samples.