SBIR Phase I: Reference Electrode with an Invariant Liquid Junction Potential

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将提供一个强大的工具，监测化学，生物和环境过程。 在这些应用中使用电位传感器的主要成本组成和障碍是需要频繁校准和维护传感器。 定期校准和维护的首要原因是由于液体接界的变化，参考电极和样品之间的界面。 在电位传感器中，液体接界是不可避免的，并且是pH传感器和其他离子选择性电极的精度和使用寿命的主要限制因素。 微流体和纳米技术的最新发展提供了开发长寿命、不变和可再现的液体接头的手段，从而显著减少了对传感器重新校准和维护的需求。 使用这种新的液体接界的参比电极将在所有电位传感器中找到应用。 开发一种不变和恒定的液体接界的可行性将被证明。改进的过程控制和显著节省的运营成本将使这种参考技术成为新的传感器设计要求。使用这种新技术作为利用电位微传感器的微流体传感器设备中的基本构建块的潜力也很大。许多来源估计这种微流体装置在未来十年将成为数十亿美元的产业。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will provide a powerful tool for monitoring chemical, biological and environmental processes. A major cost component and obstacle of using potentiometric sensors in these applications is the need for frequent calibration and maintenance of the sensor. The foremost cause of periodic calibration and maintenance is due to a variation in the liquid junction, the interface between the reference electrode and the sample. The liquid junction is unavoidable in potentiometric sensors, and is the major limiting factor in the accuracy and operational life of pH sensors and other ion-selective electrodes. Recent developments in microfluidics and nanotechnology provide the means to develop long-lived, invariant, and reproducible liquid junctions that significantly reduce the need for sensor recalibration and maintenance. Reference electrodes using this new liquid junction will find application in all potentiometric sensors. The feasibility of developing an invariant and constant liquid junction will be demonstrated.Improved process control and significant savings in operational costs will make this reference technology the new sensor design requirement. The potential is also great for using this new technology as a basic building block in microfluidic sensor devices that utilize potentiometric microsensors. Such microfluidic devices are estimated by many sources to be a multi-billion dollar industry in the next decade.