EAGER: Micromachined Sensors for Multi-functional and Autonomous Analysis of Geofluids: A New Approach to the Design and Performance of Chemical Sensors in Extreme Environments

这个EAGER项目使用新开发的微超声波和微电火花加工方法来开发新一代纳米传感器的快速原型。如果成功，这项工作将极大地扩展光刻兼容的陶瓷和金属微结构批量微加工的可用选择，并提供新技术，允许开发新的、更敏感的、更强大的水生环境传感器。最近开发的光刻兼容微加工技术将被探索，其目标是减少厚度，增加质子陶瓷膜的灵敏度和空间分辨率，如钇稳定氧化锆（YST），一种用于pH和氧化还原传感器电极的陶瓷，用于在高温（400摄氏度）腐蚀环境（海水）中进行测量。这项工作的广泛影响包括来自三个通常不相互作用的领域（纳米制造，地球科学和生物学）的研究人员的合作，科学工程新基础设施的发展，以及即使在海底热液喷口等恶劣环境条件下也能显着提高水生传感器灵敏度和寿命的潜力。学生在新的，最先进的制造技术和纳米技术方面的培训也参与其中。

This EAGER project uses newly developed micro-ultrasonic and micro-electro-discharge machining methods to develop rapid prototyping of a new generation of nano-enabled sensors. If successful, the work will both dramatically expand available options for lithography-compatible, batch-mode microfabrication of ceramic and metal microstructures and provide new technology allowing the development of new, more sensitive, and more robust environmental sensors for aquatic environments. Recently developed lithography-compatible micromachining techniques will be explored, with the goal of decreasing the thickness and increasing the sensitivity and spatial resolution of protonic ceramic membranes, such as yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YST), a ceramic used in pH and redox sensor electrodes that are used to make measurements in high temperature (400 degree C) corrosive environments (seawater). Broader impacts of the work include the collaboration of researchers from three fields that do not commonly interact (nan-manufacturing, geoscience, and biology), development of new infrastructure for science engineering, and the potential for dramatically improving aquatic sensor sensitivity and longevity even in harsh environmental conditions like those found in seafloor hydrothermal vents. Student training in novel, state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques and nanotechnology is also involved.