I-Corps: Electrochemical sensors to detect pH, phosphate and heavy metals in water

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发廉价和可靠的传感器来监测多种水质参数-pH、磷酸盐水平和水中溶解的重金属。这些传感器使用方便，携带方便，并能提供快速检测结果。目前的大多数技术都需要从现场采集水样，然后在外部实验室进行测试。这项技术可用于住宅和工业应用。它可用于监测游泳池、住宅和商业水族馆、农业径流、藻华水体、已知有铅供水线路的房屋、工业废水和啤酒厂的水质。此外，该技术的长期开发可能会与管道系统/水过滤系统集成，以实现自动监控并增加可靠性。这个i-Corps项目开发了一种电化学传感器，使用由不同功能纳米材料修饰的丝网印刷电极来检测水中溶解的重金属、磷酸盐和pH的浓度。除了石墨烯，沉积在电极表面的功能化纳米材料和导电聚合物纳米复合材料是提高分析目标分子选择性和亲和力的可靠途径。该纳米复合材料包括还原的氧化石墨烯和聚吡咯，以增加电子转移和电极的表面积。PH、磷酸盐和重金属的目标分子的功能材料分别是氧化铱、钼酸盐和半胱氨酸。通过观察电极-溶液界面的电化学反应中发生的电位和安培变化，可以对水中的相关物质进行定量和定性评估。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of inexpensive and reliable sensors to monitor multiple water quality parameters - pH, phosphate levels, and the heavy metals dissolved in water. These sensors are easy to use, portable, and can provide rapid test results. Most of the current technologies require water sample collection from sites, followed by tests in external labs. This technology can be used for residential and industrial applications. It can be used for monitoring water quality in swimming pools, residential and commercial aquariums, agricultural water run-off, water body with algae bloom, houses known to have lead service lines, industrial effluent, and breweries. Additionally, longer term development of the technology may enable integration with a plumbing system/water filtration system for automated monitoring and added reliability. This I-Corps project has developed an electrochemical sensor using a screen-printed electrode modified with different functional nanomaterials to detect concentrations of dissolved heavy metals, phosphate and pH in water. In addition to graphene, functionalized nanomaterials and conducting polymer nanocomposites deposited on the electrode surface are a reliable approach to enhance the selectivity and affinity of target molecules of analysis. The nanocomposite materials include reduced graphene oxide and polypyrrole to increase the electron transfer and electrode’s surface area. The functional materials for the target molecules of pH, phosphate, and heavy metals are iridium oxide, molybdate, and cysteine, respectively. By observing the potentiometric and amperometric change occurring in the electrochemical reaction at the electrode-solution interface, quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the relevant substance in water are possible.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.