Optimization of polymer/ruthenium complex optical oxygen sensor

This thesis is focused on developing an optical oxygen sensor, to detect oxygen content in sealed packages. The oxygen sensor material was developed using tris(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline)ruthenium(II) dichloride, a well known oxygen sensitive dye. The [Ru(Ph2Phen)3](Cl) 2 dye was incorporated into a polyacrylate polymer in the first step. A plasticizer (dioctylphthalate) was then added to the polymer/ruthenium mixture to improve the oxygen permeability of the sensor material. Optimum composition films were identified by the analysis of fluorescence lifetime decay curves using the OxySense 101 Analyzer. After optimizing each component in the order of polymer, ruthenium and plasticizer, the solution mixture was cured for a minimum of 24 hrs. at 60°C to produce the final cured polymer/ruthenium/plasticizer material. The optimized sensor material was reconstituted and cast onto suitable substrates before testing. The final optimized, cured sensor material contained 0.005 g Ru per 1 g polymer and 1 g dioctylphthalate per 1 g of polymer