Dissolved Oxygen

The partial pressure of dissolved oxygen (DO) plays an important role in many biological, chemical and physical processes. Respiration in a lung or a leaf depends on the differences of the partial pressure as well as fermentation of substrates by yeast or bacteria. The amount of dissolved oxygen is also important for the safety and the quality of many other industrial processes.

The most common technologies to measure DO are the classical amperometric and the modern optical method. Classical amperometric Clark cells, where cathode and anode are separated from the sample by a gas permeable membrane, generate an electrical current proportional to the oxygen partial pressure of dissolved oxygen. The oxygen is reduced in the sensor, catalyzed by an electrolyte at a platinum cathode. At the anode silver is oxidized. In contrast to the Clark cells the optical measurement is based on the luminescence of a luminophore that absorbs photons and releases a part of the absorbed energy by emission of photons with a higher wavelength. Oxygen quenches this process by transferring the energy partially by collision. The more oxygen present the more quenching is observed. Hamilton measures the phase shift between excitation and emission across a population of light pulses in order to achieve the highest accuracy and widest operating range. The difference in the intensity of both waves is used for online sensor diagnostics.