I-Corps: Nanoparticle-based Gas Sensor Arrays

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

Researchers are developing a low-power nanomaterials-based microheater gas sensor platform. During this project, the research team will tailor the platform for realtime monitoring of hazardous gases such as hydrogen sulfide. To fully discriminate among hazardous gasses, there needs to be an understanding of gas-nanomaterial interactions and how these interactions depend on the temperature of the microheater gas sensors. Discrimination between various gases with similar chemical reactivity will require new measurement techniques and development of new nanoparticle materials with enhanced affinities for specific gases. The low power microheater gas sensor arrays have a very small form factor, average power consumption of microwatts to a few milliwatts, and can accommodate multiple sensors on a single chip without increasing in size. Small, low power, low cost multi-gas detectors that can selectively detect various gases can have a large impact on worker safety, public health, and environmental protection. These gas sensor arrays can be wirelessly interfaced to smartphones, making the data more accessible to the individual user, and remotely accessible via wireless networks. Wide area deployment of such sensors would enable mapping of environmental pollutant and toxic gas release in both industrial and public settings.