SBIR Phase I:Platform for Printable Chemical Sensors

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to develop a platform for chemical sensors based on thin films of functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNT). Functionalized CNT thin films have demonstrated remarkable performance as chemical sensors in applications as varied as diagnostics, food safety, industrial process monitoring, environmental monitoring, national security, and more. The unique combination of small form-factor and impressive performance give CNT sensors the potential to bring chemical sensing to a myriad of use cases, with a combined market of over $13.2 billion projected by 2027, some which are not addressable with current sensing technologies. High-performance alternatives require bulky and expensive lab-based equipment that cannot be adopted by most users. Those chemical sensing solutions that do have suitable form factors lack the performance of CNTs. Moreover, CNT sensors also offer the benefit of being printable, flexible, and operating at room temperature—all of which contribute to a sensor technology platform with the ability to drastically expand the serviceable chemical sensing market. This work will focus on developing solutions to two key technical challenges.The intellectual merit of this project will focus on demonstrating the feasibility of using high-purity semiconducting CNTs as the basis material for a thin-film sensor platform. Despite the impressive performance and small footprint of CNT sensors, commercialization of these thin films has been slow to non-existent due to two major challenges: First, due to drift – the tendency of CNT thin-films to degrade over time – sensors fail after 12–24 hours. Given that high-performance CNT sensors require expensive semiconducting CNT materials, such rapid failure is not economically viable. The second major technical pain point is that when transitioned from the lab to real-world applications, thin-film sensors are likely to react with interferents (e.g. humidity, low-molecular-weight compounds, temperature, etc.), resulting in false readings. This proposed work will seek to develop solutions to both technical challenges.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.