Sensor for real-time detection of chemical contaminants in water

由于需求的空前增长，用于检测化学和生化污染物的水监测技术正在经历重大转变。有效监测和控制水质对许多行业至关重要，包括饮用水、废水、农业、水产养殖和沿海工业。这些行业对化学污染物和生化危害的实时连续监测需求尚未得到满足。我们研究小组开发的创新水传感器将通过将智能手机转化为可以检测水中污染物的水监测设备来满足这一需求。我们从现有的依赖于复杂和昂贵的实验室分析的水质传感范式转变为引入一种新型传感器，其测量原理基于利用智能手机的图像捕获和处理能力。我们的水质传感器是一种小型光电设备，可以很容易地安装在智能手机上。它包含一系列传感节点，每个节点都对特定的化学污染物敏感和选择性。感应层与水接触后，产生各种图像信号，由软件识别，表明化学污染物的存在和数量。这种方法背后的想法是，世界上大部分人随身携带的最先进的电子传感器是智能手机的图像传感器。我们的基于手机的传感器为人们提供了便携式，经济高效，易于操作的平台，用于即时分析水质。这将使及时检测水化学和生化污染物的权力掌握在行业运营商手中。

Water monitoring technology for detecting chemical and biochemical contaminants is undergoing a major transition due to unprecedented growth in demand. Effective monitoring and control of water quality are critical for many industries including drinking water, wastewater, agriculture, aquaculture, and coastal industries. There is an unmet demand of real-time continuous monitoring of chemical contaminants and biochemical hazards for these industries. The innovative water sensor developed in our research group and presented in this proposal will meet this demand by converting smartphones into water monitoring devices that can detect pollutants in water.We shift from existing water quality sensing paradigms that rely on complex and expensive laboratory-based analysis and introduce a novel sensor whose measurement principles are based on utilizing the image capturing and processing power of smartphones. Our water quality sensor is a small optoelectronic device that can be easily installed on a smartphone. It contains an array of sensing nodes, each sensitive and selective to a specific chemical contaminant. Upon the contact of the sensing layer with the water, various image signals are created, which are recognized by a software, indicating the presence and quantity of chemical contaminants. The idea behind this approach was that the most advanced electronic sensor that a large portion of the world population carries around is the image sensor of a smartphone. Our cellphone-based sensor provides people with portable, cost-effective, and easy-to-operate platforms for analyzing their water quality instantly. This will put the power of timely detection of water chemical and biochemical contaminants in the hands of industry operators.