Dual luminophore polystyrene microspheres for pressure-sensitive luminescent imaging

Polystyrene microspheres containing both an oxygen-sensitive platinum porphyrin luminescence and a pressure-insensitive silicon porphyrin luminescence are prepared in high yield. The ratio of these two luminescences responds reversibly in aerodynamic flows over a wide dynamic range of oxygen concentrations, with a response time of <10 ms. These microspheres have been used in a non-intrusive imaging method to potentially obtain the pressure distributions in three-dimensional aerodynamic flows.