A reflection mode fiber optic oxygen sensor that can operate at high temperatures for power plant applications has been developed. The sensor is based on the 3 O 2 quenching of the red emission from hexanuclear molybdenum chloride clusters. We report on a fiber optic technique for detection of gas phase oxygen up to 100 °C based on the 3 O 2 quenching of the luminescence from molybdenum chloride clusters, K 2 Mo 6 Cl 14 . The inorganic sensing film is a composite of sol-gel particles embedded in a thin, oxygen permeable sol-gel binder. The particles are comprised of thermally stable, luminescent K 2 Mo 6 Cl 14 clusters dispersed in a fully equilibrated sol-gel matrix. From 40 to 100 °C, the fiber sensor switches ~6× in intensity in response to alternating pulses of <0.001% O 2 and 21% O 2 between two well defined levels with a response time of 10 s. The sensor signal is a few nW for an input pump power of 250 µW. The normalized sensor signal is linear with molar oxygen concentration and fits the theoretical Stern-Volmer relationship. Although the sensitivity decreases with temperature, sensitivity at 100 °C is 160 [O 2 ] -1 . These parameters are well suited for in-situ, real-time monitoring of oxygen for industrial process control applications. . Both spectra were taken in a 0.001% oxygen environment. (10×) showing a sol-gel monolith containing MM-5 pulverized using a mortar and pestle, 25 -250 µm particle size, (b) a sol-gel monolith (no clusters), 1 -2 µm particle size, and (c) dark field image (100×) showing a sol-gel monolith containing MM-5 pulverized via ball milling, 2 -8 µm particle size. . Typical results for simultaneous dip-coating 5 1000 µm diameter fibers with particle / sol-gel binder blends. Image A shows an uncoated fiber for reference. Images B -D are fibers were coated with a mixture of 53 w/w% wlb29 powder in 55 mol% OtMOS/TEOS binder.
67Figure 50. Images of fibers coated with 53 w/w% wlb29 powder in 55 mol% OtMOS/TEOS binder before and after mechanical testing. A and B are the before and after images of a fiber tested at 30°; C and D are the before and after images
689 from a second fiber tested at 90°. Images E-H are from a single fiber. Image E shows the fiber before testing, and F, G, and H show results after impacting from 30°, 60° and 90º, respectively. Figure 51. Room temperature emission spectra sol-gel film 29L (◇) 1 day curing at 70°C, (◆) 54 hours of thermal cycling between 200 °C, and the spectrum of its originating potassium salt FJ-17 (□) in CH 3 CN. All spectra were measured and in 99.999% nitrogen. The film concentration is 3.6 ± 1.6 x10 21 cluster/cm 3 based on an estimated film thickness of 700 ± 300 nm. The solution concentration is 0.087 mM ± 1.4%.
71Figure 53. Thermal dependence of the emission spectra for film 38Q cured at 200 °C for 30 minutes. The emission intensity is a function of temperature, but the lineshape is temperature independent. All spectra were sampled in 99.999% nitrogen environments. The cluster source was MM8 and the film concentration is ...