Multimodal Sensing Platform for Innovative Gas Detection and Monitoring

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Air quality monitoring and control are high priorities in smart city and smart home applications. Moreover, the hydrogen economy must ensure the safe transportation and utilization of hydrogen and its derivatives, such as ammonia. As such, there is a strong urgency to develop platform based gas detection technology that is low cost, portable, and accurate. The same platform can also be utilized for early detection of different diseases through monitoring volatile organic compounds. Technological breakthroughs are critical in driving the next generation of gas sensing platforms, which rely on novel materials and cutting-edge equipment to sense and monitor for various applications. This RTI proposal is for the development of state of the art multimodal gas detection platform. The platform is based on multimodal sensing where mechanical, electrochemical, and optical methods are used simultaneously to distinguish different gases. The fusion of different signals would provide the desired sensitivity and selectivity. A quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) will be used as the basis of the platform. Depending on applications, different nanomaterials with certain affinities to different gases and volatile compounds will be selectively coated. The detection system will also monitor electrochemical changes due to presence of chemicals. Moreover, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy will be utilized to accurately acquire the Raman shifts due to chemicals absorbed on QCM surfaces. The research and applications enabled by the proposed system will open new doors to advancements in portable gas sensing systems. The system will also be constantly utilized by the multidisciplinary team of researchers and HQP.