Experimental and Numerical Studies of Cantilever Sensors

现有的检测淡水中重金属的方法需要收集样品并送到专门的实验室进行分析。这样的程序是耗时且昂贵的。便携式设备包含阵列的微悬臂梁传感器能够检测几种分析物在同一时间，有一天，可以用于执行一个完整的重金属分析的水现场，快速，成本效益，并与最少的用户培训。微悬臂梁传感器是大约400微米长、50微米宽和1微米厚的小悬臂梁，被功能化以接受特定的目标分析物。由于其体积小，数百个杠杆可以合并在一个一角硬币大小的区域。尽管悬臂梁传感器提供了满足上述目标的所有必要标准，但其可重复性阻止了它们被实施到商业设备中。本申请的主要目的是研究，使用实验观察和数值建模和模拟的创新组合，影响悬臂梁传感器的再现性的因素，通过：探索材料科学问题，如用于锚感测层的薄Au膜的形态;使用流体动力学模拟理解分析物如何在传感器单元内流动;以及研究设计用于检测特定重金属的新型杯芳烃传感层的主体/客体反应。

Existing methods for detecting heavy metals in fresh water require samples be collected and sent to specialized laboratories to be analyzed. Such a procedure is time consuming and expensive. Portable devices containing arrays of microcantilever sensors capable of detecting several analytes at one time could, one day, be used for performing a complete heavy metal analysis of water onsite, quickly, cost effectively, and with minimal user training. Microcantilever sensors are small cantilevers approximately 400 microns long, 50 microns wide, and 1 micron thick functionalized to be receptive to specific target analyte. Because of their small size, hundreds of cantilevers can be incorporated in an area the size of a dime. Although cantilever sensors offer all the necessary criteria for satisfying the above goal, their reproducibility has prevented them from being implemented into commercial devices. The principle objective of this application is to investigate, using an innovative combination of experimental observations and numerical modeling and simulations, the factors that affect the reproducibility of cantilever sensors by: exploring the materials science issues such as the morphology of the thin Au film used to anchor the sensing layer; understanding how analyte flows within the sensor cell using fluid dynamics simulations; and studying the host/guest reactions of new calixarene sensing layers designed to detect specific heavy metals.