SBIR Phase I: Reference Electrode with an Invariant Liquid Junction Potential

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将为监测化学、生物和环境过程提供一个强大的工具。在这些应用中使用电位传感器的一个主要成本组成部分和障碍是需要频繁地对传感器进行校准和维护。定期校准和维护的首要原因是液结的变化，即参比电极和样品之间的界面。在电位传感器中，液结是不可避免的，也是制约pH传感器和其他离子选择电极准确度和使用寿命的主要因素。微流体和纳米技术的最新发展为开发长寿命、恒定和可重复的液体连接提供了手段，大大减少了传感器重新校准和维护的需要。使用这种新型液体结的参比电极将在所有电位传感器中得到应用。论证了开发不变和恒定液结的可行性。改进的过程控制和显著节省的运行成本将使这一参考技术成为新的传感器设计要求。将这项新技术用作使用电位型微型传感器的微流体传感器设备的基本构件，也具有很大的潜力。许多消息来源估计，这种微流控设备在未来十年将成为一个价值数十亿美元的产业。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will provide a powerful tool for monitoring chemical, biological and environmental processes. A major cost component and obstacle of using potentiometric sensors in these applications is the need for frequent calibration and maintenance of the sensor. The foremost cause of periodic calibration and maintenance is due to a variation in the liquid junction, the interface between the reference electrode and the sample. The liquid junction is unavoidable in potentiometric sensors, and is the major limiting factor in the accuracy and operational life of pH sensors and other ion-selective electrodes. Recent developments in microfluidics and nanotechnology provide the means to develop long-lived, invariant, and reproducible liquid junctions that significantly reduce the need for sensor recalibration and maintenance. Reference electrodes using this new liquid junction will find application in all potentiometric sensors. The feasibility of developing an invariant and constant liquid junction will be demonstrated.Improved process control and significant savings in operational costs will make this reference technology the new sensor design requirement. The potential is also great for using this new technology as a basic building block in microfluidic sensor devices that utilize potentiometric microsensors. Such microfluidic devices are estimated by many sources to be a multi-billion dollar industry in the next decade.