SBIR Phase I: e-CHEM: A fully-autonomous connected in-situ chemical sensor

该项目的广泛影响/商业潜力解决了对原位化学传感器技术的巨大需求，该技术能够(1)以高分辨率测量农业和城市发展的环境足迹，以及(2)识别与饮用水质量相关的潜在安全问题。地表水中高浓度的营养物（如硝酸盐、亚硝酸盐、正磷酸盐）是环境、公共卫生和经济问题的根源。积极监测河口、湖泊和河流等地表水中的营养物质浓度对于评估其健康状况和及时采取行动以尽量减少生态系统退化至关重要。该SBIR项目旨在开发一种具有颠覆性的新型高度小型化的自主水质化学传感器，该传感器可以远程自主操作，安装和维护要求最低，能够在一次电池充电的情况下，在基于试剂和无试剂的配置下直接进行数千次原位测量。从科学研究到估计养分负荷、建立排放限制、预测富营养化条件和证明遵守监管报告要求，这些传感器的应用将大大受益。独立而言，饮用水行业对自主化学传感器有自己的要求，用于监测水库和分配网络，优化处理过程，并在早期识别水箱硝化问题。这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在实现商业水质传感器中最高水平的小型化和功能性。该e-CHEM系统的核心创新在于微流控化学分析模块，结合了一种新型的高效混合机制，将微小体积的试剂与流体样品均质，微流控实现了基于试剂和无试剂的双重化学测量能力，可以通过精确的片上温度管理来控制相关的化学反应。最后介绍了通过新型表面纳米工程克服生物污染这一重要障碍的潜力。测量的参数将包括：正磷酸盐、亚硝酸盐、硝酸盐、溶解有机碳、总氯和/或游离氯、游离氨和ph值。该系统将包括双向无线遥测，以实现自动警报生成和数据传输到远程服务器，用于可视化、分析和解释。由于全过程自动化、消除样品降解和传输时间、减少人为错误和自动数据集中，目标精度和响应时间优于传统测量技术。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project addresses a great demand for in-situ chemical sensor technology with ability to (1) Measure with high resolution the environmental footprint of agricultural and urban development, and (2) Identify potential safety issues related to drinking water quality. High concentrations of nutrients (e.g. nitrate, nitrite, orthophosphate) in surface waters are the source of environmental, public health, and economic issues. Active monitoring of nutrient concentrations in surface waters such as estuaries, lakes and rivers is critical in assessing their health and implementing timely action to minimize ecosystem degradation. This SBIR project aims at developing a disruptive new type of highly miniaturized autonomous water quality chemical sensor, that can be operated remotely and autonomously, has minimal installation and maintenance requirements, is capable of performing thousands of measurements directly in-situ, in both reagent-based and reagent-less configuration, on a single battery charge. Applications that will greatly benefit from such sensors range from scientific research, to estimating nutrient loads, establishing discharge limits, predicting eutrophication conditions and demonstrating compliance with regulatory reporting requirements. Independently, the drinking water industry has its own requirements for autonomous chemical sensors for monitoring reservoirs and distribution networks, optimizing treatment processes and identifying tank nitrification issues early-on. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to achieve the highest level of miniaturization and functionality attempted in a commercial water quality sensor. The core innovation of this proposed e-CHEM system is in the microfluidic chemical analysis module, combining a novel highly-efficient mixing mechanism to homogenize minute volumes of reagent with the fluid sample with a microfluidic implementation of dual reagent-based and reagent-less chemical measurement capability, the possibility of controlling relevant chemical reactions in-situ via precise on-chip temperature management, and finally the potential of overcoming the important hurdle of bio-fouling via novel surface nano-engineering. The parameters measured will include a selection from: ortho-phosphates, nitrites, nitrates, dissolved organic carbon, total and/or free chlorine, free ammonia, and pH. The system will include bidirectional wireless telemetry to enable automatic alert generation and data transmission to remote servers for visualization, analysis and interpretation. Target accuracy and response times are superior to traditional measurement techniques due to full process automation, elimination of sample degradation and transit times, reduction of human error, and automatic data centralization.