Claims
- 1. A chemical sensor consisting essentially of a mechanicochemically responsive polymeric film capable of dimensional expansion or contraction in response to a change in its chemical environment, said film being doped with an electrically conductive material.
- 2. A chemical sensor consisting essentially of (a) a mechanicochemically responsive polymeric film capable of dimensional expansion or contraction in response to a change in its chemical environment mechanically coupled to (b) a linear voltage displacement transducer.
- 3. A chemical sensor consisting essentially of (a) mechanicochemically responsive polymeric film capable of dimensional expansion or contraction in response to a change in its chemical environment adhered to (b) an inert flexible polymeric strip.
- 4. A chemical sensor consisting essentially of (a) mechanicochemically responsive polymeric film capable of dimensional expansion or contraction in response to a change in its chemical environment adhered to (b) a reflective film that is interposed between a laser beam source and a photodetector capable of detecting changes in the apparent position of said laser beam source of less than a micron
- 5. A chemical sensor consisting essentially of (a) mechanicochemically responsive polymeric film capable of dimensional expansion or contraction in response to a change in its chemical environment adhered to (b) an optical fiber, said polymeric film being doped with a light-absorbing dye.
- 6. The sensor of claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein said mechanicochemically responsive polymeric film contains at least one functional group being selected from an aldehyde, an amine, an imine, an amide, an imide, a carbamate, a carboxylate, an ester, an ether, a hydroquinone, a hydroxy, a ketone, a lactam, a lactone, a nitrile, a phosphate, a phosphine, a phosphite, a pyridine, an alkylated pyridine, a sulfone, a sulfoxide, a thiol, a thioamide, a thioester, a thioether, a thiourea, a urea, a urethane, and heterocycles containing oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur hetero atoms.
- 7. The sensor of claim 6 wherein said mechanicochemically responsive polymer film is doped with said at least one functional group.
- 8. The sensor of claim 6 wherein said at least one functional group is covalently bonded to the polymer backbone of said mechanicochemically responsive polymeric film.
- 9. The sensor of claim 8 wherein said at least one functional group is in pendant positions on said polymer backbone.
- 10. The sensor of claim 8 wherein said at least one functional group is part of the repeating unit of said polymer backbone.
- 11. The sensor of claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein said mechanicochemically responsive polymeric film is selected from polyethyleneimine, poly(acrylic acid) and poly(alkylacrylic acid).
- 12. The sensor of claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein said mechanicochemically responsive polymeric film is cross-linked with 0.01 to 0.2 mol cross-linking reagent per polymer repeating unit.
- 13. The sensor of claim 12 where said cross-linking reagent is selected from the group consisting of a polyamine, a polyol, an acid chloride and an isocyanate.
- 14. The sensor of claim 13 wherein said cross-linking reagent is a polyamine and said polyamine is selected from the group consisting of ethylenediamine, diethylenetriamine, hexamethylenediamine, 1,6-hexanediamine and a phenylenediamine.
- 15. The sensor of claim 13 wherein said cross-linking reagent is a polyol and said polyol is selected from the group consisting of glycerol, ethylene glycol, sorbitol, mannitol, scyllitol and inisotols.
- 16. The sensor of claim 13 wherein said cross-linking reagent is a acid chloride and said acid chloride is selected from the group consisting of adipoyl chloride, isophthaloyl chloride, malonyl chloride, terephthaloyl chloride and trimesoyl chloride.
- 17. The sensor of claim 13 wherein said cross-linking reagent is an isocyanate and said isocyanate is selected from the group consisting of tolylene diisocyanate, a phenylene diisocyanate, methylene bis-(phenylisocyanate) and poly[methylene bis-(phenylisocyanate)].
- 18. The sensor of claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein said mechanicochemically responsive polymer film comprises a functional group-grafted copolymer wherein the functional group is selected from carboxylate, sulfonate and amine.
- 19. The sensor of claim 18 wherein the polymer to which said functional group is grafted is selected from polyethylene, polypropylene, poly(vinyl-idenefluoride) and polysulfone.
- 20. The sensor of claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein the change in chemical environment is a change in hydrogen ion concentration.
- 21. The sensor of claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein the change in chemical environment is a change in the concentration of a weak acid.
- 22. The sensor of claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein the change in chemical environment is a change in hydroxide ion concentration.
- 23. The sensor of claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein the change in chemical environment is a change in the concentration of a weak base.
- 24. The sensor of claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein the change in chemical environment is a change in transition metal ion concentration.
- 25. The sensor of claim 24 wherein the transition metal ion is Cd(II).
- 26. The sensor of claim 24 wherein the transition metal ion is Cr(III).
- 27. The sensor of claim 24 wherein the transition metal ion is Cr(VI).
- 28. The sensor of claim 24 wherein the transition metal ion is Cu(II).
- 29. The sensor of claim 24 wherein the transition metal ion is Fe(II).
- 30. The sensor of claim 24 wherein the transition metal ion is Fe(III).
- 31. The sensor of claim 24 wherein the mechanicochemically responsive polymeric film is doped with a beta-diketone.
- 32. The sensor of claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein the change in chemical environment is a change in Ba(II) concentration.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 509,012, filed Apr. 13, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,394.
Government Interests
The government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. DE-ACO3-87ER80514 awarded by the Department of Energy and Contract No. 68D80070 awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency.
US Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5015843 |
Seltz et al. |
May 1991 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
509012 |
Apr 1990 |
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