Polydiacetylene from amphiphilic diacetylene and their solvatochromism property

Abstract

This research work deals with development of a paper-based polydiacetylene (PDA) sensor array for detecton and discrimination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The sensor array is generated from a combination of eight structurally diversed diacetylene (DA) monomers. 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA) and 10,12-tricosadiynoic acid (TCDA) are commercially available whilst the other five DA monomers 3-8 are synthesized specifically for this application. Once obtained, DA monomers were fabricated on filter paper by drop and dry process followed by UV irradiation to produce blue paper-based PDA. The sensor array gives a unique colorimetric pattern after being exposed to vapors of 18 different VOCs. The color transition is evaluated by measuring the RGB values of photographic images obtained from digital camera and scanner. Measurement of RGB intensities obtained from 8 PDAs × 18 VOC vapors × 12 replicated measurements could be statistically classified into 18 clusters by principal component analysis (PCA). Each cluster distinctly corresponds to each specific solvent. Factorial discriminate analysis (FDA) also cross validates that the reduced PDA sensing array containing only 2 sensing element can give with 100% discriminating accuracy. Moreover, discrimination of various automotive fuels obtained from various sources was accomplished using this paper based PDA sensor array.