SBIR Phase II: Highly Sensitive Nanofiber Sensors for Trace Detection of Explosives

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将开发一种手持式痕量爆炸物探测器的工作原型，它比目前任何商业上可用的便携式设备都更小、更灵敏、响应时间更快。在该项目的NSF第一阶段SBIR资助下，Vaporsens，Inc.成功开发了实现这些目标所需的新型有机纳米纤维传感材料。在第二阶段，该公司将设计和优化制造手持检测器所需的传感器系统、电子硬件、固件和算法软件。Vaporsens开发的新型纳米纤维传感材料将使拟议的探测器能够同时检测所有三种重要的爆炸物，并具有更高的灵敏度，因为检测限制在万亿分之一的范围内。样机将接受第三方测试，以验证对常见爆炸物的快速、灵敏和选择性检测。第二阶段项目还将允许设计和制造新的传感器材料，目的是通过界面化学优化进一步提高后续设备的传感灵敏度和选择性。该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将减少简易爆炸装置(IED)的影响，简易爆炸装置是当代战争中造成人员伤亡的主要原因。简易爆炸装置在战争以外的使用正在增加，2013年上半年，仅在美国就报告了170多起事件。因此，全球痕量爆炸物探测设备的年销售额已增长到约4亿美元。然而，这些技术的有效性有限。擦拭机需要接触；炸弹嗅探犬价格昂贵，需要与同一个训练员一起工作，而且耐力有限；由于尺寸和成本的原因，成像技术只在检查站设置中实用。相比之下，拟议的探测器体积小，灵敏度高，将用于在几乎任何地点精确检测痕量爆炸物，无需擦拭，成本达到或超过市场上探测器的最低价格。这种商业化的装置将是第一个允许当地执法人员和其他公共安全官员、边境安全人员和军方“嗅探”可疑的袋子、车辆、储物柜和人员的危险爆炸威胁的装置，无论他们在哪里，都会立即产生效果。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop a working prototype of a handheld detector for trace explosives that is smaller, more sensitive, and has faster response times than any commercially available portable device today. Under NSF Phase I SBIR funding of this project, Vaporsens, Inc. successfully developed new organic nanofiber sensory materials required to achieve these goals. In Phase II, the company will design and optimize the sensor systems, electronic hardware, firmware and algorithm software required to build a handheld detector. The novel nanofiber sensory materials developed by Vaporsens will enable the proposed detector to simultaneously detect all three important categories of explosives with greater sensitivity, due to detection limits in the parts per trillion range. Prototypes will be subjected to third party testing to validate the rapid, sensitive, and selective detection of common explosives. The Phase II project will also permit the design and fabrication of new sensor materials, with the aim of further improving the sensing sensitivity and selectivity of subsequent devices through interface chemistry optimization.The broader impact/commercial potential of the project will reduce the impact of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which are a leading cause of casualties in contemporary warfare. IED use outside of warfare is growing, with over 170 incidents reported in the US alone during the first six months of 2013. As a result, the worldwide annual sales for trace explosives detection equipment has grown to approximately $400 million. However, these technologies are limited in their effectiveness. Swabbing machines require contact; bomb-sniffing dogs are expensive, need to work with the same handler, and have limited endurance; and imaging technologies are only practical in checkpoint settings due to size and expense. In contrast, the small size and high sensitivity of the proposed detector will be used for exacting detection of trace amounts of explosives in nearly any location, without swabbing, and at a cost that meets or exceeds the lowest price of detectors on the market. The commercialized device will be the first of its kind to allow local law enforcement and other public safety officials, border security and the military to "sniff" suspicious bags, vehicles, lockers, and people for dangerous explosive threats with immediate results regardless of their location.