Optochemical hydrogen peroxide sensor based on oxygen detection

A novel hydrogen peroxide sensor based on an optochemical oxygen sensor is presented. An oxygen sensitive membrane is covered with an additional layer containing inorganic catalysts which decompose hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen. The oxygen is detected in the underlying oxygen sensitive membrane via luminescence quenching. The investigated concentration range for the reported sensor was between 0.1 and 2 wt.% hydrogen peroxide in water. Several catalysts were tested for this application with manganese dioxide being the preferred material. In addition to this, it was shown that by coating the sensor with a proper polymer layer, the hydrogen peroxide sensitivity could be improved up to five times compared to an uncoated sensor. The response times of the sensors depends on the type of covering layer, with the shortest response times being similar to that of uncoated sensors (t95 was approximately 1 min for a change from 0 to 0.2 wt.% hydrogen peroxide in water).