I-Corps: Nanoenabled Electronic Nose

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is that the project's technology, based on computing, engineering and materials technologies, may provide a sense of safety and comfort to anosmics (those who suffer from a loss of a sense of smell). People with a loss of their sense of smell are typically concerned about being near potential hazards that are difficult to detect without a sense of smell, such as fires, gas leaks, food that is spoiling, and hazardous chemicals. As there are no methods or products that can closely mimic the human nose, the detection performance and user-friendliness of a substitute device will target a relatively untapped market -- approximately 5% of the general population or over 15 million people in the United States alone. It is anticipated that this project's device will be a more affordable, reliable and less invasive alternative to surgery or other treatments. Furthermore, the technology can be used in a wide range of applications, such as drug or explosives detection, food quality monitoring (such as identifying diseases and/or ripeness of fruits and other produce), air quality monitoring and control, harmful solvent detection for defense application, and smart bandage for wound monitoring.This I-Corps project involves the manufacture of a device with a high-density, high-performance gas sensor array based on nanotechnology, chemistry, computer science and engineering. The facile, fast fabrication methods of nanomaterials as sensing materials introduces the possibility of mass manufacturing. Real-time response to a range of gas analytes along with fast recovery of the sensing medium provides a solid technical foundation for this project. Currently at a pre-alpha prototyping stage, the device, with its full integration with a custom-designed circuit board and precisely fabricated sensing nanomaterials, not only eliminates the need for tedious and costly microfabrication, which is typical for gas sensors, but may also be able to imitate the detection level of a human nose, even exceeding the detection performance for some gas analytes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.