Sol gel optodes for environmental and medical applications

Sol-gel techniques have became very popular recently due to their high chemical homogeneity, low processing temperatures, possibility of controlling of the size and morphology of particles. In order to prepare sol-gel glasses we used the method of hydrolyzing TEOS and adding different dyes into the solution. The optical properties of different organic and inorganic dyes entrapped into the sol-gel matrices are investigated. These materials will be connected with optical fibers and will serve as optodes for pH and temperatures measurements.