Formaldehyde Sensor for Environmental and Industrial Monitoring

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Formaldehyde is among the 25 most abundantly produced chemicals in the world and is used in a variety of manufacturing processes. There are serious health risks in utilizing formaldehyde, however, as it is a suspected h uman carcinogen that causes severe irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat. Unfortunately, current detection methods are inadequate because they require bulky, expensive equipment or off-site spectrochemical analysis. To address these issues, this SBIR pr oposal describes the development of a small, inexpensive sensor for measuring the concentration of formaldehyde in real-time. The proposed approach will involve selective preconcentration of formaldehyde from the atmosphere into a thin polymer film. The ch aracteristic infrared (IR) absorptions of formaldehyde will be used for selective detection at very low concentrations (between 0.05 and 20 ppm), which encompass both the OSHA permissible exposure limit of 0.75 ppm and short-term exposure limit of 2 ppm. T echnical aims of the project include the synthesis and characterization of the polymer sorbent layer in addition to the characterization of sensor performance in the presence of formaldehyde vapor. The proposed approach is specifically designed to protect the 2 million workers who encounter this gas on a regular basis in the chemical industry. Furthermore, the sensor platform can be readily adapted for indoor air quality or environmental monitoring applications as well.