Anti-fouling coatings for surfaces of hard and soft sensors

传感器在众多行业中都是至关重要的部件。例如，自动驾驶汽车的推动依赖于各种传感器来确保交通安全。然而，一个主要的问题是，由于光或电子信号的通信受阻，主动表面的污垢降低了传感器的性能和可靠性。对于人工智能在户外、恶劣天气或恶劣环境中的广泛应用，活性表面的保护层是解决这一问题的一种方法。本项目旨在开发一种高效、可扩展的硬、软测量表面多功能涂层合成技术。涂层表面对传感器用于传感的波长范围是透明的。此外，功能化的表面将具有防污、防雾、自清洁、坚固耐用的特点。该涂层可在恶劣天气、低温或与工艺流体流动接触的恶劣条件下使用。组合物和纳米结构的设计和优化将得到机器学习的帮助。将为透明玻璃基板开发新型涂层，目标应用于农场、矿场、陆上或空中运输中自动驾驶所需的户外光学传感器。该项目还将开发用于生物医学成像的接触复杂流体的传感器或通过3D打印制造的具有复杂微结构的微型传感器的涂层合成策略。用于表面功能化的材料将是无毒、丰富和环保的，具有可调的机械性能。

Sensors are vital components in a broad range of industries. For example, the push for self-driving vehicles rely on various sensors for their safe traffic. However, a major issue isthat the fouling of the active surface reduces the performance and reliability of the sensor, due to blocked communications by optical or electronic signals. A protective coating of the active surface is an approach to solve this issue for wide applications of artificial intelligence outdoors, in bad weather or in harsh environments. This project proposes to develop effective and scalable synthesis technology for multifunctional coating on hard and soft sensor surfaces. The coated surfaces will be transparent to the range of wavelengths that the sensors employ for their sensing. Furthermore, the functionalized surfaces will be anti-fouling, anti-fogging, self-cleaning, robust and durable. The coating will endure the harsh conditions in bad weather, low temperature, or contact with the flow of process fluids. The design and optimization of the compositions and nanostructures will be assisted by machine learning. Novel coatings will be developed for transparent glass substrates with targeted applications in optical sensors outdoors required in autonomous drive in farms, mining sites, transport on land or in air. The project will also develop coating synthesis strategies for sensors in contact with complex fluids for biomedical imaging, or microsensors with complicated microstructures fabricated by 3D printing. The materials to be employed in the surface functionalization will be non-toxic, earth-abundant and earth-friendly with tunable mechanical properties.