Shipping Container Remote Sensing

Seacoast Science will fabricate a detector that meets the requirements for detecting the presence of toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) or explosive materials in shipping containers. The proposed system will include a single-chip microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) chemical sensor array, selective and sensitive to volatile components in explosives and TICs, a MEMS preconcentrator for increased selectivity and sensitivity, wireless communication, and a low-power design for long-term operation. Our MEMS technology utilizes an array of surface micromachined capacitors; coated with chemoselective polymers and sol-gel based functionalized silicates optimized for volatile organic compounds. Its exceptionally low-power consumption allows our detector system to operate under battery-power for several months. In Phase I we will expose our sensors to explosives and TICs at appropriate concentrations under a range of environmental conditions. This Phase I program will result in a conceptual hardware design based on experimental results from simulant testing and theoretical results from concentration models. An intermediate prototype detector system, consisting of a sensor that will be able to transmit concentrations of chemicals, will be delivered to the program manager. Operationally these detector systems will be small enough for low impact mounting on to commercial shipping containers, and inexpensive enough for widespread deployment.