Optical sensors fluorimetry

This equation, which is valid for both photometry and fluorimetry, shows that the variation in pIC with ionic strength (7) is a major drawback for optical sensors. Methods have been developed in luminescence to overcome this drawback. 

The sorbent materials used to construct this type of sensor are widely varied (ion exchangers, adsorbent solids, polymers) and are employed as particles (larger than 30 pm in order to avoid overpressure in the flow system) or films. Most of these sensors are optical and rely on absorption, reflectance or molecular fluorescence measurements. In order to ensure that the sensing microzone is fully compatible with the detector, the sorbent material used must be as transparent as possible (photometry) or give rise to no appreciable light scatter (fluorimetry) so that the baseline (resulting from passage of the carrier) may be as low as possible. 

It is desirable to have means to measure organohalides such as carbon tetrachloride in situ in water and other environmental media. One approach to doing this has been demonstrated by the in situ analysis of chloroform-contaminated well water using remote fiber fluorimetry (RFF) and fiber optic chemical sensors (FOGS) (Milanovich 1986). With this approach, fluorescence of basic pyridine in the presence of an organohalide (Fujiwara reaction) is measured from a chemical sensor immersed in the water at the end of an optical fiber. Carbon tetrachloride undergoes a Fujiwara reaction, so its determination might be amenable to this approach. 

Fluorimetry is perhaps the most sensitive optically based measurement technique and is capable of yielding very low detection limits 10 M). Consequently, many groups have tried to exploit this in the development of optically based sensors and thus the majority of reports deal with such techniques. We approach them in roughly chronological order. 

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