Electrophoretic deposition as a new approach to produce optical sensing films adaptable to microdevices

We report the fabrication of optical oxygen sensor films using electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) nanoparticles containing the oxygen-sensitive dye platinum(ii) meso-tetra(pentafluorophenyl)porphine. Compared to other deposition methods, the EPD is simple and allows easy control over deposition, which is crucial for the implementation of optical sensing films in microdevices. By optimizing the synthesis of the functional nanoparticles, anodic EPD can be performed. The amount of deposited particles can be tuned by varying either the electrical potential or the deposition time. The sensing phases were characterized using a phase-modulation technique showing a Stern-Volmer constant (kSV1) between 45 and 52 bar(-1) for gas and of 20.72 bar(-1) in the aqueous phase without leaching of the particles from the surface. The small thickness of the layers lead to short response times (<0.4 s). This is the first time that polymeric optical sensing films have been obtained by EPD from dispersions of oxygen sensing nanoparticles.