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Fluorescence quenching is shown to be a viable method of measuring oxygen concentration. Two oxygen/optical transducers based on fluorescence quenching have been developed and characterized: one is hydrophobic and the other is hydrophilic. The development of both transducers provides great flexibility in the application of fluorescence to oxygen measurement. One transducer is produced by entrapping a fluorophor, 9,10-diphenyl anthracene, in poly(dimethyl siloxane) to yield a homogeneous composite polymer matrix. The resulting matrix is hydrophobic. This transducer is extremely sensitive to PO2 as a result of oxygen quenching the fluorescence of 9,10-diphenyl anthracene. This quenching is utilized in the novel method employed to measure the transport properties of oxygen within Ulf 2matrix. Results show large values for the diffusion coefficient at 25°C, D = 3.5 x 10-5 cm /s. The fluorescence intensity varies inversely with P02. The second oxygen transducer is fabricated by entrapping 9,10-diphenyl anthracene in poly(hydroxy ethyl methacrylate). Free radical, room temperature polymerization is employed. This transducer is hydrophilic, and contains 37% water. The transport properties of oxygen within this transducer are compared with those of the hydrophobic transducer. The feasibility of generalizing the oxygen transducers to a wider class of chemical sensors through coupling to other chemistries is proposed. An example of such coupling is given in a glucose/oxygen transducer. The glucose transducer is produced by entrapping an enzyme, glucose oxidase, in the composite matrix of the hydrophilic oxygen transducer. Glucose oxidase catalyzes a reaction between glucose and oxygen, thereby lowering the local oxygen concentration. This transducer yields a glucose modified optical oxygen signal. The operation of this transducer and preliminary results of its characterization are presented.
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