Gold nanoparticle-based mercury analyzer for on-site measurement of soil and sediment

 描述（由申请方提供）：我们的拟议项目“用于土壤和沉积物现场测量的基于金纳米颗粒的汞分析仪”将开发一种功能强大的便携式汞分析仪。该项目将继续第一阶段的工作，将基于纳米颗粒的检测器与热/催化样品引入系统相结合。基于金纳米颗粒的等离子体激元汞感测是廉价的、超灵敏的，并且是便携式应用的理想选择。热/催化进样系统将是低功率的，具有低样品损失和高通量;它也不需要使用湿化学品或其他消耗品。将这两个子系统结合在一起的商用仪器重量轻（<20磅），对需要补救的汞含量敏感（<6毫克/千克汞），并依靠电池供电。将进行广泛的现场测试，以确保汞传感器适合取代目前昂贵和耗时的实验室方法。这种装置的开发将使所有参与汞监测和受污染场地补救的各方受益。汞监测每年在不同的科学、工业和监管团体中花费数亿美元。这些团体所解决的根本问题是保护人类健康和环境免受汞污染的危害。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Our proposed project, "Gold nanoparticle-based mercury analyzer for on-site measurements of soil and sediment," will develop a powerful and portable mercury analyzer. This project will continue the work from Phase I, by combining the nanoparticle based detector with a thermal/catalytic sample introduction system. Gold nanoparticle-based plasmonic mercury sensing is inexpensive, ultra-sensitive, and ideal for portable applications. The thermal/catalytic sample introduction system will be low power, with low sample loss and high throughput; it also does not require the use of wet chemicals or other consumables. The commercial instrument resulting from combining these two subsystems will be lightweight (<20lbs), sensitive to levels of concern for remediation (<6mg/kg Hg), and operate on battery power. Extensive field-testing will be conducted to ensure the mercury sensor is suitable for replacing the current costly and time-consuming laboratory methods. The development of such a device will benefit all parties concerned with mercury monitoring and the remediation of contaminated sites. Mercury monitoring costs hundreds of millions of dollars a year across diverse scientific, industrial, and regulatory groups. The fundamental issue these groups address is protecting human health, and the environment, from the risks of mercury pollution.