Silicon Phthalocyanines for low cost ammonia sensors

氨是包括农业、制药、食品加工、能源储存和医药在内的几个全球行业的基本化学品。这些工业每年产生超过1.75亿吨的氨。尽管氨被广泛使用，但它是剧毒的，对人类健康和环境有害。在处理氨气时，有效的传感器对于确保职业健康和安全至关重要。这些传感器必须快速而有选择性地检测低水平的氨，特别是在含有其他气体的环境中。设计能够在室温和高湿条件下工作的传感器是一项重大挑战。尽管存在许多传感技术，但它们通常需要高工作温度（高达400°C），不能快速响应，或者在室温下对氨不敏感或不选择性。该项目将创建氨传感器，该传感器结合了快速响应、高选择性和在室温下广泛湿度条件下工作的能力。这将对加拿大经济产生直接影响，因为它将开发出广泛受欢迎的传感器，用于多个全球行业。加拿大人和加拿大公司将从这项技术中受益，因为它将有助于安全地扩大氨的使用。传感器开发方面的创新将同时满足工业需求，并限制氨对人类健康和环境的负面影响。

Ammonia is an essential chemical for several global industries including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, food processing, energy storage, and medicine. Together these industries generate over 175 million tons of ammonia per year. Despite its widespread use ammonia is highly toxic and damaging to human health and the environment. Effective sensors are essential for ensuring occupational health and safety when handling ammonia gas. These sensors must detect low levels of ammonia quickly and selectively, especially in environments containing other gases. Designing sensors capable of operating at room temperature and high humidity is a major challenge. Though many sensing technologies exist they often require high operating temperatures (up to 400 °C), do not respond quickly, or are not sensitive or selective for ammonia at room temperature. This project will create ammonia sensors that combine rapid response with high selectivity and the ability function over a wide range of humidity conditions at room temperature. This will have a direct impact on the Canadian economy by developing widely sought after sensors for use across multiple global industries. Canadians and Canadian companies will benefit from this technology as it will help safely expand the use of ammonia. Innovations in sensor development will simultaneously address the demands of industry and limit the negative impacts of ammonia on human health and the environment.