Solid State Hypergolic Chemical Leak Detector

The overall objective of the two phase SBIR program is to develop a hypergolic leak detector (HLD) that can be mounted on the outside of a missile canister which is able to detect rapid changes in concentration that signal leaks of hypergolic rocket fuels and oxidizers. In Phase I Applied Nanotech, Inc. (ANI) established that a solid state gated metal oxide sensors was sufficiently sensitive to ppm level changes in MMH and MON in an enclosed space to enable rapid, accurate, and reliable hypergolic leak detection. However the MMH sensing components developed in Phase I were not sufficiently resistant to the aggressive character of the analyte, demonstrating the need for hydrazine etch-resistant materials. In Phase II ANI will develop etch resistant metal nitrides as sensing elements and conduct sensor testing with hydrazine. The sensing elements will be incorporated into a complete packaged sensor module with power supply, microprocessor controller, programmable sensing and response algorithm. A working model will be supplied to MDA program management.