SBIR Phase I: Post-CMOS Ionic Liquid Electrochemical Gas Sensors

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是开发适合集成到物联网（IoT）设备中的准确，快速，小型化和低成本的气体传感器。拟议传感器的成功商业实施将使社会广泛受益。结合这些传感器的物联网设备，如智能手机和可穿戴设备，可以直接帮助美国1000万哮喘患者和全球数十亿空气污染脆弱人群。这些设备通过检测危险状况来提高安全性，例如公用事业、工业工厂或运输设施中的气体泄漏或气体积聚。在物联网设备网络之间共享信息提供了更准确的时间和空间气体信息，通过向应急响应和监管执法人员提供信息来促进公共安全。所提出的传感器相对于其他气体传感器技术的竞争优势可以通过填补智能手机等以前无法访问的设备的市场空缺而转化为商业成功。通过推进电化学研究前沿和培养物联网应用的跨学科创业精神，由此产生的项目活动也将造福科学、教育和当地社区。拟议项目将最先进的微细加工方法和电化学气体传感技术的最新发展结合在一起，重新发明传统的电化学气体传感器。第一阶段可行性研究的重点是克服电化学气体传感器小型化和微制造工艺中液体电解质处理的挑战。 提出了一种创新的微制造结构，使用兼容的制造工艺。传感器的稳定性，建议在电极-电解质界面，一个不太了解的领域的背景下进行研究。所提出的微加工结构带来了一个新的定量角度的电极-电解质界面的研究，并可能产生新的知识的基础上，以帮助提高传感器的性能。拟议的研究活动预计将实现2x2x0.5mm外形尺寸的一氧化碳传感器，该传感器消耗亚微安的电流，并通过物联网传感器网络平台进行演示。在第二阶段，更多气体的传感器，包括臭氧，一氧化氮，甲烷等，将被实现在一个互补金属氧化物半导体（CMOS）集成电路（IC）包含恒电位仪和数据转换器，通过后CMOS微制造工艺。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得的支持，通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the development of accurate, fast, miniaturized and low-cost gas sensors that are suitable for integration into internet of things (IoT) devices. Successful commercial implementation of the proposed sensors would broadly benefit society. IoT devices incorporating those sensors such as smartphones and wearables can directly help 10 million asthma patients in the US and billions of air pollutant vulnerable people worldwide. These devices enhance safety by detecting dangerous conditions such as a gas leak or gas build-up in a utility, industrial plant or transportation facility. Sharing information across networks of IoT devices provides more accurate temporal and spatial gas information, promoting public safety by making the information available to emergency response and regulatory enforcement personnel. The competitive advantages of the proposed sensor over other gas sensor technologies can be transformed into commercial success by filling the market vacancy into previously inaccessible devices like smartphones. Resulting project activities would also benefit science, education and local communities by advancing the research frontier on electrochemistry and nurturing cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship with IoT applications.The proposed project brings together state-of-the-art microfabrication methods and the most recent developments of electrochemical gas sensing technology to reinvent the traditional electrochemical gas sensor. The Phase I feasibility research focuses on overcoming the unmet challenges of electrochemical gas sensor miniaturization and liquid electrolyte handling in microfabrication processes. An innovative microfabricated structure is proposed using semiconductor-compatible manufacturing processes. Sensor stability is proposed to be studied in the context of the electrode-electrolyte interface, a not well understood area. The proposed microfabricated structures bring a new quantitative perspective to the electrode-electrolyte interface study and may generate new knowledge on fundamentals to help improve sensor performance. The proposed research activity is expected to achieve a carbon monoxide sensor of 2x2x0.5mm form factor that consumes sub micro amps of current, demonstrated by an IoT sensor network platform. In Phase II, sensors of more gases, including ozone, nitric oxide, methane, etc. will be implemented on a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit (IC) containing potentiostats and a data converter through post-CMOS microfabrication processes.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.