Development and characterization of a pressure-sensitive luminescent coating based on Pt(II)-porphyrin self-assembled monolayers

A pressure-sensitive luminescent coating (PSLC) applicable to the visualization of pressure distributions in micro-scale flow devices was developed. Pt(II)-porphyrin was synthesized and covalently attached to the surface of indium tin oxide (ITO) glass plates by a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) process. The UV-visible absorption spectrum, pressure and temperature sensitivities and photostability of the PSLC were then measured to characterize the developed PSLC. It was found that (a) the chemisorption of the porphyrin did not greatly perturb the molecular orbitals of the porphyrin responsible for its photophysics, (b) the pressure dependency of the luminescent intensity of the PSLC obeyed a power function curve and the pressure sensitivities at 273, 293, 313 and 333 K were obtained in the pressure range from 5 to 120 kPa, (c) the luminescent intensity of the PSLC almost linearly decreased with temperature and the temperature sensitivities at 5, 40, 100 and 120 kPa evaluated in the temperature range from 273 to 333 K were −0.67, −0.72, −0.75 and −0.78%/K, respectively and (d) the decrease in the luminescent intensity of the PSLC after a 30 min exposure to an excitation light was 1.23% of its initial intensity and much smaller than that of Pt(II)-porphyrin absorbed on a TLC (thin-layer chromatography) sheet.