Temperature compensation of fluorescence intensity-based fiber-optic oxygen sensors using modified Stern–Volmer model

In practical sensing applications, temperature effects are of particular concern, and hence it is necessary to develop the means to correct the fluorescence intensity measurement in accordance with the working temperature. Accordingly, this study develops a modified Stern–Volmer model to compensate for the temperature drift of oxygen concentration measurements obtained using fiber-optic sensors. The oxygen sensors considered in this study are based on teraethylorthosilane (TEOS)/n-octyltriethoxysilane (Octyl-triEOS) or n-propyltrimethoxysilane (n-propyl-TriMOS)/3,3,3-trifluoropropyltrimethoxysilane (TFP-TriMOS) composite xerogels doped with platinum meso-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphine (PtTFPP).

The experimental results are fitted to the modified Stern–Volmer model in order to compute suitable values for a temperature compensation coefficient at different working temperatures. It is found that the proposed temperature compensation method reduces the difference in the oxygen concentration measurement for working temperatures in the range of 25–70 °C as compared to data without compensation. The linearity and sensitivity of PtTFPP-doped n-propyl-TriMOS/TFP-TriMOS sensor are better than PtTFPP-doped TEOS/Octyl-triEOS sensor for working temperatures in the range of 25–70 °C.

The proposed approach could provide a straightforward and effective means of improving the accuracy of fiber-optic oxygen sensors if a variable attenuator is designed according to the temperature compensation coefficient. Thus, the fiber-optic oxygen sensor with a variable attenuator could work in a broad temperature range without using a temperature sensor.