Portable Microcapacitor Chemical Detector System

The purpose of this program is to develop MEMS chemicapacitive sensors and integrate with a MEMS preconcentrator. The initial focus will be on the development of chemoselective materials for the detection of chemical warfare agents (CWA), toxic industrial chemicals (TIC) and toxic industrial materials (TIM). This work will ultimately lead to the development of a low-cost, low-power chemical badge detector based on micromachined capacitors. Our MEMS sensor array utilizes micromachined chemicapacitors coated with chemoselective polymers optimized for the detection of target chemicals. Capable of detecting many chemical mixtures, each chip has ten sensors, with several different coatings for redundancy and interferent rejection. Exceptionally low power consumption, inexpensive production cost and robustness make our detector ideal for field deployment. As part of this Phase II effort we will fabricate a small battery powered prototype to demonstrate the capabilities of this technology. The system will include a chemical sensor array selective and sensitive to CWA, TIC or TIM and a small, rugged, lightweight, low-power system designed for use as a badge sensor. Ultimately, this system will provide early warning capability when deployed on the battlefield or when used in homeland defense.