Conspectus
Carbon dioxide, CO2, is an essential part of life, in
that through green plant photosynthesis it is used to generate food
and fuel and is generated in both aerobic and anaerobic respiration.
Industrially, it is used in fire extinguishers, supercritical fluid
extractions, and food packaging. Environmentally, it is in the atmosphere,
hydrosphere, and biosphere and is responsible for global warming and
the acidification of the oceans. The monitoring of CO2 in
the gas phase is usually carried out using FTIR spectroscopy, whereas
the measurement of dissolved CO2 usually involves an electrochemical
device. Excitingly, the most recent forms of CO2 indicators
appear to offer significant advantages over current methods, such
as simplicity, low cost, and portability.
This Account highlights
the work of the Mills group on transforming
CO2 colorimetric indicator technology from the usual water-based
(i.e., “wet”) indicator form to dry CO2-sensitive
inks, pigments, plastics, and adhesives. Initially, the basic theory
associated with colorimetric CO2 indicators is described,
and the simple relationship between indicator absorbance and the partial
pressure of CO2, P
CO2, established.
The early work on CO2-sensitive inks is then described,
where such inks comprise a hydrophilic pH-sensitive dye anion, coupled
with a lipophilic quaternary ammonium cation, dissolved in a nonaqueous
solution of a polymer which, when cast, forms a dry ink film that
gives a reversible color response when exposed to CO2 both
in the gas phase and dissolved in solution. The ability to tune the
sensitivity of a CO2 ink film to the desired application
through the judicious choice of the pH indicator dye and base concentration
is described. The dependence of the sensitivity of a CO2 ink film on temperature is used to create a temperature indicator,
and the ability to tune the ink, to respond to high levels of CO2, is used to create a fizziness indicator for carbonated drinks.
Very sensitive CO2 inks are used to make a vacuum and a
general air-pressure indicator. The more recent development in CO2 indicator technology is described in which CO2 inks are used to coat silica particles to make a range of different
CO2-sensitive pigments, which, when incorporated into a
plastic, through extrusion, produce a range of novel CO2-sensitive plastic films that have many notable advantages over their
ink film counterparts. Examples are then given of such plastic films
being used for dissolved CO2 measurements in salt water,
for food packaging, and as an early wound-infection indicator. Finally,
the recent incorporation of a CO2-sensitive pigment into
a pressure sensitive adhesive to make an after opening freshness tape
is described briefly.
Although most commercial CO2 indicators are assessed
by eye and so are limited to qualitative analysis, this work shows
that colorimetric CO2 indicators can be used for quantitative
analysis through absorbance measurements. Nowadays, such measurements
can be readily made using just a digital camera and color analysis
soft...