IGF::OT::IGF IN THIS SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROJECT, LEIDEN MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY, LLC…

Public award description

IGF::OT::IGF IN THIS SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROJECT, LEIDEN MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY, LLC (LMT) WILL DEVELOP A PORTABLE MICROFLUDIC ANALYSIS INSTRUMENT FOR MEASUREMENT OF INORGANIC IONS PRESENT IN POTABLE WATER SUPPLIES, THERMAL CONTROL SYSTEM COOLING WATER, AND HUMAN WASTE WATER. A PRIMARY GOAL OF THE PHASE I EFFORT WAS TO IDENTIFY AND DEMONSTRATE THE MOST VIABLE DEVELOPMENT PATH TO ADVANCE CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART NASA MICROFLUIDIC ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENT TECHNOLOGY INTO A USER-FRIENDLY, COMPACT, AND AUTOMATED INSTRUMENT PLATFORM FOR USE ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS). IN THIS SBIR PHASE II EFFORT, LMT WILL ADVANCE CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGIES BY DEVELOPING A MICROCHIP CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS (MCE) SYSTEM WITH CAPACITIVELY-COUPLED CONTACTLESS DETECTION (C4D) FOR THE RAPID SEPARATION, DETECTION AND QUANTIFICATION OF INORGANIC IONS SPECIFIED IN NASA SPACECRAFT WATER EXPOSURE GUIDELINES (SWEG). THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THIS PHASE I R&D EFFORT ARE: 1) DEVELOPMENT AND FABRICATION OF PHASE II MICROFLUIDIC CHIPS WITH EMBEDDED C4D ELECTRODES FOR WATER QUALITY ANALYSIS ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION; 2) DEVELOPMENT AND FABRICATION OF A PHASE II LOCK-IN-MEASUREMENT C4D; 3) DEVELOPMENT AND FABRICATION OF PHASE II MCE MICROCONTROLLER AND POWER BREAKOUT BOARD; 4) DEVELOPMENT OF AND FABRICATION OF A PHASE II MCE HIGH VOLTAGE BOARD; 5) VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION AND END-TO-END INSTRUMENT INTEGRATION