Study of the sensor response of spun metal phthalocyanine films to volatile organic vapors using surface plasmon resonance

In this work, thin films of chloroaluminium phthalocyanine (ClAlPc), fluoroaluminium phthalocyanine (FAlPc) and fluorochromium phthalocyanine (FCrPc), which are insoluble in conventional solvents, were deposited by spin coating of their solutions in trifluoroacetic acid. The sensing response of these films versus acetic acid, three alcohols (methanol, ethanol, butanol) and three amines (methylamine, dimethylamine, trimethylamine) have been investigated using surface plasmon resonance as the sensing method. It has been shown that the sensor response of the investigated films decreases in the following order: acetic acid>alcohols>amines. The optical changes as monitored by SPR method have been used in conjunction with Fick's second law of diffusion to determine the diffusion coefficients of analyte vapor during the films’ swelling process. The obtained results showed that the diffusion coefficients and the swelling characteristics of the films are dependent on the functional group of the phthalocyanine molecule and the molecular size of the analyte.