NSF Award
8960349
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is in the general area of analytical and surface chemistry and in the subfield of sensor technology. This activity focusses on the development of Fiber Optic Chemical Sensors (FOCS) as new instrumentation for the in-situ detection and monitoring of specific classes of chemical compounds. In particular, a new method for the determination of volatile gem-polyhalogenated hydrocarbons (GPCHC) such as the trihalogenated methanes (THM), in drinking and ground water, will be developed and evaluated. Candela Laser Corporation and Oregon State University will work collaboratively to implement specific chemical reactions in a miniature reactor secured to the distal end of a fiber optic excitation/collection system. A diode pumped laser will be employed to excite fluorescence in a reaction product; the rate of fluorescence increase will be related to the concentration of the volatile species in the sample. The instrumentation developed in this Phase I activity can be potentially employed in the over 3,000 facilities in the U.S. that supply finished drinking water to over 10,000 people per facility. In addition, ground water as well as specific waste sites could be routinely tested using this approach to real time in-situ monitoring.
