Optical detection of pentachlorophenol in water using thin films of octa-tosylamido substituted zinc phthalocyanine

In this work, thin films of eight octasubstituted zinc(II) phthalocyanine derivative (ZnPcR8) with tosylamido substituents R = –NHSO2(C6H4)CH3 were investigated as active layer of optical sensors for the detection of pentachlorophenol. Using total internal reflection ellipsometry (TIRE) technique response characteristics of ZnPcR8 films to pentachlorophenol were studied in the concentration range from 0.1 to 20 μg/l. This was also validated for natural river and wastewater samples. It was demonstrated that the specific binding of pentachlorophenol molecules causes substantial shift of Δ(λ) spectrum. The minimum registered concentration of pentachlorophenol was 0.7 μg/l. For the river water and wastewater samples the detection limits as well as a working concentration ranges showed no significant difference with respect to those found in distilled water.