Phthalocyanine based nanowires and nanoflowers as highly sensitive room temperature Cl2 sensors

Abstract

Nanowires of Zn(II) 2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24-octakis(octyloxy)-29H,31H-phthalocyanine (ZnPcOC₈) and nanoflowers of Cu(II) 2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24-octakis(octyloxy)-29H,31H-phthalocyanine (CuPcOC₈) have been uniformly grown onto glass substrate by employing a cost effective solution based self-assembly technique. The nanowires and nanoflowers were characterized by XRD, SEM and UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy. It has been demonstrated that these nanowires and nanoflowers were highly sensitive towards Cl₂ at room temperature with a detection limit as low as 5 ppb. The response of nanowires and nanoflowers varied linearly from 93% to 715% and 85% to 550% for 5–1500 ppb of Cl₂. Raman spectroscopic and XPS studies revealed that the central metal ions of ZnPcOC₈ and CuPcOC₈ were the predominant absorption sites for Cl₂. The results emphasized the application of these nanostructures as low cost and highly sensitive room temperature Cl₂ sensors.