Formaldehyde Molecular Recognition Microsensor

描述（由申请人提供）：这个三阶段的小企业创新研究项目解决了公共卫生保护中最重要的问题之一：监测室内空气质量和控制住宅、办公室和工业建筑的通风系统。提出了一种新型的用于检测空气中气态甲醛的微型传感器。该传感方法利用暴露于甲醛后在氧化锡层中引起的电导率变化。对其他挥发性有机化学物质的交叉敏感性通过氧化锡表面的亚纳米孔的惰性保护层来消除，每个孔的形状可以选择性地容纳单个甲醛分子。将这种新型传感材料结合到高面积纳米结构传感器平台中，将使生产高灵敏度、选择性、低功耗和低成本的甲醛微传感器成为可能。第一期项目将通过传感器的制造及其在模拟污染室内空气的条件下的综合测试来证明所提出方法的可行性。为了确保二期产品开发和三期商业化的成功，我们与一家领先的能源应用组件和系统开发商建立了合作伙伴关系。通过将配位化学与纳米技术和微加工相结合，所提出的方法可能会使一系列新的低成本、高灵敏度和选择性的传感器系统成为可能，用于对人体暴露于有毒物质的精确定量监测。因此，拟议的研究与国家环境健康科学研究所的使命高度相关。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This three-phase Small Business Innovation Research project addresses one the most significant problems in public health protection: monitoring of indoor air quality and controlling the ventilation systems in residential, office and industrial buildings. The development of a novel advanced microsensor for detecting gaseous formaldehyde in air is proposed. The sensing method utilizes the conductivity change induced, upon exposure to formaldehyde, in a layer of tin oxide. Cross-sensitivity to other volatile organic chemicals is eliminated by patterning of the tin oxide surface by an inert protecting layer with sub-nanometer pores, each shaped to selectively host a single formaldehyde molecule. Incorporation of this novel sensing material into a high-area nanostructured sensor platform will enable production of highly sensitive, selective, low-power, and low-cost formaldehyde microsensors. The Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach through fabrication of sensors and their comprehensive testing in conditions simulating contaminated indoor air. To ensure successful Phase II product development and Phase III commercialization, partnership has been secured with one of the leading developers of components and systems for energy applications. By combining coordination chemistry with nanotechnology and microfabrication, the proposed approach is likely to enable a novel family of low-cost highly sensitive and selective sensor systems for precise quantitative monitoring of human exposures to toxicants. Thus, the proposed research is highly relevant to the mission of the National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences. Public Health Relevance: The project addresses one the most significant problems in public health protection: monitoring of indoor air quality and controlling the ventilation systems in residential, office, and industrial buildings. The development of novel advanced sensors for detecting formaldehyde - one of the most ubiquitous and dangerous for human health air contaminants - is proposed. The proposed technology will enable a novel family of high-performance and low-cost sensor systems for generating precise and quantitative measures of human exposure to harmful chemicals at the point of contact.