Effects of NiO, SnO2, and Ni-doped SnO2 semiconductor metal oxides on the oxygen sensing capacity of H2TPP

Improving the performance of optical oxygen sensors can be accomplished by adding metal oxide semi-conductors (MOSs) additives to the composition comprising an oxygen-sensing agent immobilized in a polymeric thin film. For several decades, MOSs have attracted great interest in gas sensors due to their high sensitivity to many target gasses. Herein, meso-tetraphenylporphyrin (H2TPP) dye was immobilized into the poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) (poly(TMSP)) silicone rubber in the presence of NiO, SnO2, Ni:SnO2 metal oxide particles as additives, and their thin films were prepared to investigate oxygen-sensitive optical chemical sensor properties. The characterizations of the synthesized metal oxide powders were carried out through XPS, XRD, FT-IR, PL spectroscopy and SEM methods. Intensity-based spectra and decay kinetics of H2TPP-based thin films were investigated for the concentration range of 0%-100% [O-2]. The oxygen sensitivity (I0/I100) of the porphyrin was calculated as 70%. Whereas the relative signal intensity values of H2TPP-based sensor slides were measured as 75%, 80%, and 88% in the presence of NiO, SnO2, Ni:SnO2 additives, respectively. The H2TPP in combination with Ni:SnO2 semiconductor provided a higher I0/I100 value, larger response range, higher Stern-Volmer constant (KSV) value, and faster response time compared to the undoped form, and also NiO and SnO2 additive-doped forms of H2TPP. The response and the recovery times of the porphyrin-based sensing slide along with Ni:SnO2 additives have been measured as 12 and 50 s. These results make the H2TPP along with the MOSs promising candidates as oxygen probes