Collaborative Research: A Nanostructure Sensor for Measuring Dissolved Iron and Copper Concentrations in Coastal and Offshore Seawater

合作研究：用于测量沿海和近海海水中溶解铁和铜浓度的纳米结构传感器

• 批准号: 0826098
• 负责人: Mark Wells
• 金额: $ 96.97万
• 依托单位: University of Maine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-10-01 至 2014-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0826098&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Nanostructure; Sensor; Measuring

Iron and Copper serve as key co-constituents for numerous enzymes in a wide range of biological systems, and their elevated or impoverished levels in aqueous systems have dramatic consequences at organismal, ecosystem, and human health scales. Over the last decade these effects have increasingly been recognized to be important in ocean systems. Identifying sites and times where these metals cause negative environmental outcomes is greatly hampered by their comparatively sparse datasets. This problem is a direct consequence of the analytical challenge of obtaining accurate Fe and Cu determinations in saline waters at very low (trace) concentrations, and the limitations of ship-dependent sampling regimes. The PI's request funding to build on research and technology advances in the Tripp, Wells and King laboratories to develop active nanostructures that can serve as platforms amenable for detection of a wide range of environmentally important dissolved metals in seawater. Preliminary work has validated a biologically-inspired sensor platform in the subarctic N. Pacific, providing the first demonstration of dissolved Fe measurements at very low (50 pM) concentrations in oceanic waters by a solid state sensor. The proposed work will 1) optimize this prototype sensor by tuning the active nanostructures to measure dissolved Fe and Cu, and 2) develop a detection device that migrates the current ship-board method to operate on rosette profiling platforms as well as on moorings and autonomous vehicles. Broader Impacts:This project has the potential to further develop a sensor that will provide unique information about the chemical speciation of the biologically important metals Fe and Cu. The work proposed here fills an important need for high spatial and temporal resolution data of these metals identified as priority by researchers in marine chemistry and marine biogeochemistry. This interdisciplinary approach has the potential to fill an analytical void for data that continues to stymie efforts to understand how and Cu and more specifically Fe availability in the oceans modulates the cycling of carbon and nitrogen in the marine environment. The proposal is well balanced in its goal of marrying nanotechnology with IR spectroscopy to address a analytical void while providing specific support for the training of students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The PIs plan to develop minority student involvement in their research. This will have the most important impact, since bringing smart students into our field and stimulating young students to consider careers in science is essential for the continued growth of our national science capabilities.

铁和铜在广泛的生物系统中是许多酶的关键共组分，它们在水体系中的高水平或贫乏会在生物、生态系统和人类健康范围内产生巨大的后果。在过去的十年中，人们越来越认识到这些影响在海洋系统中的重要性。确定这些金属造成负面环境后果的地点和时间很大程度上受到它们相对稀少的数据集的阻碍。这一问题的直接后果是在极低(痕量)浓度的咸水中获得准确的铁和铜测定的分析挑战，以及依赖于船舶的采样制度的局限性。国际和平研究所要求在Tripp、Wells和King实验室的研究和技术进步的基础上提供资金，以开发活跃的纳米结构，作为检测海水中各种对环境重要的溶解金属的平台。初步工作验证了北太平洋次北极生物传感器平台的有效性，首次展示了固态传感器在极低浓度(50 PM)的海洋水域中测量溶解铁的情况。这项拟议的工作将1)通过调整活性纳米结构来测量溶解的铁和铜来优化这一原型传感器，以及2)开发一种检测设备，该设备将当前的船载方法移植到玫瑰花环仿形平台以及系泊和自动驾驶车辆上。更广泛的影响：该项目有可能进一步开发一种传感器，提供有关具有生物重要性的金属铁和铜的化学形态的独特信息。这里提出的工作满足了对这些金属的高空间和时间分辨率数据的重要需求，这些数据被海洋化学和海洋生物地球化学研究人员确定为优先事项。这种跨学科方法有可能填补数据的分析空白，这些数据继续阻碍了解海洋中铜和铁的有效性如何调节海洋环境中碳和氮的循环的努力。该提案的目标是将纳米技术与红外光谱相结合，以解决分析空白，同时为本科生和研究生的培训提供具体支持，这一目标很好地平衡了这一目标。PIS计划培养少数族裔学生参与他们的研究。这将产生最重要的影响，因为将聪明的学生带入我们的领域，并鼓励年轻学生考虑从事科学工作，对于我们国家科学能力的持续增长至关重要。