Multi-Analyte, Wearable Chemical Nanosensor for Warfighter Physiological Status Monitor (WPSM)

There is a large unmet need for low-power sensor systems. This is not due to a lack of transducers, for there are many physical properties of a molecule or nanostructure that can be harnessed to perform the basic sensing task. The absence is due to problems in integrating science with technology into a small, portable, packageable scale. While it is relatively easy for the instrument designer to incorporate capabilities to correct for zero-point drift, changing background matrix, or shifting environmental factors into a macroscopic analytical device, it is difficult to build such functions into a micro-scale device without significant power budget or other design penalties. This proposal aims to add such sophisticated functions into a small, low-power package using porous-silicon technology and to integrate this package into a body-worn, wireless sensor-system. The specific goal is to build a photonic material that acts as a low-power sensor for a broad class of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) while displaying relative immunity towards changes in relative humidity, the ability to differentiate between VOCs within the family that the sensor will detect and to provide a means of estimating the concentration of the VOC.