PHTHALOCYANINES AS SENSITIVE MATERIALS FOR CHEMICAL SENSORS

This paper provides a review of phthalocyanines suitable for the devel opment of chemical sensors. Phthalocyanines may be utilized for differ ent types of chemical sensors, including in particular electronic cond uctance sensors [such as semiconductive, field-effect transistor (FET) , solid-state ionic and capacitance sensors], mass-sensitive sensors u tilizing a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and surface acoustic-wave (SAW) sensors, and optical sensors. The phthalocyanines used are disc ussed in terms of their physical and chemical properties, as well as t heir sensitivity, selectivity and reversibility towards the detection of NO, and organic solvent vapours, The interaction mechanism between phthalocyanine films and analyte molecules is also discussed.