Miniature Sensor Platform for Detecting Toxic Gases

Nanomaterials Research, Llc, Longmont CO

Investigators

Abstract

The development of small, reliable, real-time gas sensors is important in industrial health and safety, indoor air quality assessment, and emissions monitoring. These sensors (and their associated instrumentation) need to be very lightweight, battery-operable, resistant to environmental damage, highly sensitive to the desired gas species, and fast to respond and alarm. This work addresses the development of just such a miniaturized sensor platform. During the Phase I project, NRC will demonstrate a single sensor package containing four discrete devices with a footprint of only 0.007 square inches. Due to the considerable degree of miniaturization enabled by this approach, arrays with over 32 individual sensor elements are envisioned for the Phase II, allowing the simultaneous measurement of a wide range of chemical gases with only a single small sensor device. Two demonstration gases will be characterized during Phase I, namely toluene and methanol. However, this platform is amenable to the detection of a large number of toxic species, enabling us to tailor the device for specific applications. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: If successfully developed, this unique sensor platform can be used in a variety of commercial applications including personal exposure monitoring of workers, indoor air quality assessment, and biomedical research.