Synthesis and evaluation of a new phthalocyanine as sensor material for sarin detection

A new phthalocyanine material, 2,9,16,23-tetrakis [4-(hexafluoroisopropanol)-anilinomethyl]phthalocyaninato zinc (ZnPcF24N4O4) was designed and synthesized. The chemoselective material was coated on a 300 MHz surface acoustic wave (SAW) device using cyclic voltammetry for the detection of sarin (GB) vapor. It was found that the observed frequency shifts were linear to the concentrations of sarin in the range of 0.6–43.4 mg/m3 with a high sensitivity of 205.8 Hz/mg/m3. The influences of other interfering vapors on the sensor response were also examined. The results showed that the phthalocyanine-based SAW sensor exhibited a fairly fast response, excellent reversibility, linearly sensitivity, and a high selectivity to vapor of the organophosphorus nerve agent GB.