Issue 7, 2005

Development of a novel UV indicator and dosimeter film

Abstract

A novel UV indicator is described, comprising nanocrystalline particles of titania dispersed in a film of a polymer, hydroxyl ethyl cellulose (HEC), containing: a mild reducing agent, triethanolamine (TEOA) and a redox indicator, methylene blue (MB). The UV indicator film is blue-coloured in the absence of UV light and loses colour upon exposure to UV light, attaining within a few min a steady-state degree of bleaching that can provide a measure of the irradiance of the incident light. The original blue colour of the film returns once the source of UV light is removed. The spectral characteristics of a typical UV indicator film, and its components, are discussed and the UV-absorbing action of the titania particles highlighted. From the measured %bleaching undergone by a typical UV indicator as a function of light irradiance the indicator appears fully bleached, within 7 min, by a UV irradiance of 3 mW cm−2 or greater. The mechanism by which the UV indicator works is described. The reversible nature of the UV indicator is removed by covering a typical UV indicator with a thin, largely oxygen impermeable, polymer film, such as the regenerated cellulose found in Sellotape™. The product is a UV dosimeter, the response of which is related to the intensity and duration of the incident UV light, as well as the amount of titania in the film. A typical UV dosimeter film is fully bleached by 250 mJ cm−2 of UV light. The possible use of these novel indicators to measure UV exposure levels, irradiance and dose, is discussed.

Graphical abstract: Development of a novel UV indicator and dosimeter film

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Feb 2005
Accepted
25 Apr 2005
First published
17 May 2005

Analyst, 2005,130, 1046-1051

Development of a novel UV indicator and dosimeter film

A. Mills, S. Lee and M. Sheridan, Analyst, 2005, 130, 1046 DOI: 10.1039/B502969D

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