Optical Fiber Oxygen Sensor Based on Ru (II) Complex and Porous Silica Nanoparticles Embedded in Sol-Gel Matrix

Abstract

This paper presents a high-sensitivity oxygen sensor that comprises an optical fibre coated at one end with tris (4, 7-diphenyl-1, 10-phenanthroline) ruthenium (II) ([Ru (dpp)3]2+) and porous silica nanoparticles embedded in an n-octyltriethoxysilane (Octyl-triEOS)/tetraethylorthosilane (TEOS) composite xerogel. The sensitivity of the optical oxygen sensor is quantified in terms of the ratio IN2/IO2, where IN2 and IO2 represent the detected fluorescence intensities in pure nitrogen and pure oxygen environments, respectively. The experimental results show that the oxygen sensor has a sensitivity of 26. The experimental results show that compared to oxygen sensor based on Ru (II) complex immobilized in the sol-gel matrix, the proposed optical fibre oxygen sensor has higher sensitivity. In addition to the increased surface area per unit mass of the sensing surface, the porous silica nanoparticles increase the sensitivity because a substantial number of aerial oxygen molecules penetrate the porous silica shell. The proposed optical sensor has the advantages of easy fabrication, low cost, fast response and high sensitivity for oxygen monitoring using a cheap LED as a light source.