NSF Award
9960665
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will provide a powerful tool for monitoring chemical, biological and environmental processes. A major cost component and obstacle of using potentiometric sensors in these applications is the need for frequent calibration and maintenance of the sensor. The foremost cause of periodic calibration and maintenance is due to a variation in the liquid junction, the interface between the reference electrode and the sample. The liquid junction is unavoidable in potentiometric sensors, and is the major limiting factor in the accuracy and operational life of pH sensors and other ion-selective electrodes. Recent developments in microfluidics and nanotechnology provide the means to develop long-lived, invariant, and reproducible liquid junctions that significantly reduce the need for sensor recalibration and maintenance. Reference electrodes using this new liquid junction will find application in all potentiometric sensors. The feasibility of developing an invariant and constant liquid junction will be demonstrated.<br/><br/>Improved process control and significant savings in operational costs will make this reference technology the new sensor design requirement. The potential is also great for using this new technology as a basic building block in microfluidic sensor devices that utilize potentiometric microsensors. Such microfluidic devices are estimated by many sources to be a multi-billion dollar industry in the next decade.
