EAGER: Micromachined Sensors for Multi-functional and Autonomous Analysis of Geofluids: A New Approach to the Design and Performance of Chemical Sensors in Extreme Environments

这个急切的项目使用最新开发的微超声和微电火花加工方法来开发新一代纳米传感器的快速原型。如果成功，这项工作将极大地扩大陶瓷和金属微结构的光刻兼容、批量模式微制造的可用选择，并提供新的技术，允许开发用于水环境的新的、更灵敏、更坚固的环境传感器。最近开发的与光刻兼容的微机械加工技术将被探索，目标是减少质子陶瓷膜的厚度，提高灵敏度和空间分辨率，例如用于pH和氧化还原传感器电极的Y稳定氧化锆(YST)陶瓷，用于在高温(400摄氏度)腐蚀性环境(海水)中进行测量。这项工作的更广泛影响包括来自三个通常不相互作用的领域(制造业、地球科学和生物学)的研究人员的合作，为科学工程开发新的基础设施，以及即使在恶劣的环境条件下，即使在海底热液喷口发现的恶劣环境条件下，也有可能显著提高水生传感器的灵敏度和寿命。还包括对学生进行新的、最先进的制造技术和纳米技术的培训。

This EAGER project uses newly developed micro-ultrasonic and micro-electro-discharge machining methods to develop rapid prototyping of a new generation of nano-enabled sensors. If successful, the work will both dramatically expand available options for lithography-compatible, batch-mode microfabrication of ceramic and metal microstructures and provide new technology allowing the development of new, more sensitive, and more robust environmental sensors for aquatic environments. Recently developed lithography-compatible micromachining techniques will be explored, with the goal of decreasing the thickness and increasing the sensitivity and spatial resolution of protonic ceramic membranes, such as yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YST), a ceramic used in pH and redox sensor electrodes that are used to make measurements in high temperature (400 degree C) corrosive environments (seawater). Broader impacts of the work include the collaboration of researchers from three fields that do not commonly interact (nan-manufacturing, geoscience, and biology), development of new infrastructure for science engineering, and the potential for dramatically improving aquatic sensor sensitivity and longevity even in harsh environmental conditions like those found in seafloor hydrothermal vents. Student training in novel, state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques and nanotechnology is also involved.