A Microfabricated Preconcentration and Chemical Band Pass Filter for Volatile Organic Chemical Analysis
EMSL Project ID
43793
Abstract
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate has requested a solution to detect and alert the presence of WMD, explosives, humans, contraband, and anomalous substances in maritime shipping containers during transit to U.S. ports from foreign ports (i.e. the Time Recorded Ubiquitous Sensor Technologies, TRUST). DHS requires the device to meet challenging operational constraints, including low cost, use of minimal to no consumables, small size and weight and autonomous operation for 21 days. The goal of this project is to design and construct a microfabricated preconcentrator with selective chemical release that could be incorporated into the final TRUST system device. This pre-separation step will lessen the demand on the final chemical analysis approach by reducing the number and the amount of chemical species presented to the final analytical device. The preconcentrator system will be robust and reusable, allowing it to operate reliably in the demanding environment of a shipping container and have a very low procurement and lifecycle cost. Importantly, this microfabricated preconcentrator will leverage a number of the new capabilities in the EMSL Microfabrication Facility, including: direct-write lithography system for photomask creation, contact photomask aligner for pattern transfer to silicon and glass substrates, deep reactive ion etching system for etching the sorbent beds and flow channels into Si substrates, as well as others. Because of the growing interest in developing alternative approaches for gas phase sampling and preconcentration, we anticipate that the proposed research will generate scientific publications, open the door to additional funding opportunities, and most importantly, perform a crucial role in enhancing the security of US ports.
Project Details
Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2011-05-16
End Date
2012-05-20
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator