Nanosensor array detects harmful substances

The University of California has enabled a US company to develop a novel sensor that can detect small quantities of harmful airborne substances.

Nano Engineered Applications has completed the prototype which is based on intellectual property exclusively licensed from the University of California.

According to the company, the device has potential applications detecting pesticide levels, gas leaks, combustion emissions and warfare agents.

“This is a really important step,” said Nosang Myung, a professor at the University of California . “The prototype clearly shows that our research at the university has applications in industry.”

Steve Abbott, president of Nano Engineered Applications, said the company is now focusing on writing software related to the device and working to make it smaller.

At present, the device is about four inches by seven inches. The goal is to make it the size of a credit card.

At that size, a multi-channel sensor would be able to detect up to eight toxins. A single-channel sensor device could be the size of a fingernail.

Abbott believes the product will initially be commercialised on the industrial side for monitoring such things as gas and toxin leaks, and emissions.

The key to the prototype is the nanosensor array that Myung started developing eight years ago.

It uses functionalised carbon nanotubes, which are 100,000 times finer than human hair, to detect airborne toxins down to the parts per billion level.

The prototype also includes a computer chip, USB ports, and temperature and humidity sensors.

Version 2 of the prototype, due out in a month, will integrate a GPS device and a Bluetooth unit to sync it with a smart phone.

The unit is designed to be incorporated in three basic platforms: a handheld device, a wearable device and in a smart phone. Different platforms will be used depending on the application.

For example, a handheld unit could be used for environmental monitoring, such as a gas spill and smart phone unit could be used by public safety officials to detect a potentially harmful airborne agent.

In the past year, Nano Engineered Applications, Inc. has provided financial support to Myung’s research. Of that, a portion went toward naming Myung’s lab the Innovation Economy Corporation Laboratory.

The company hopes to commercialise the system within a year.