Integrated Aerosol Collection and MOF-FET Sensors (AeroMOF-FET) for Aerosolized Chem/Biothreats Detection

The proposed work aims to develop a rapid, selective, and field-deployable sensor for hazardous chemical aerosol detection. The approach combines advanced aerosol collection with electrochemical sensing to enhance sensitivity and selectivity. Reproducibility will be addressed at the materials level through consistent, high MOF coverage on carbon supports. Phase I is a go/no-go project with key objectives: (i) develop a micro-well-based aerosol capture and thermal desorption module (A2V) to concentrate and prepare analytes for detection; (ii) fabricate a multiplexed array of metal-organic framework-functionalized field-effect transistors (MOF-FETs) for analyte-specific sensing; (iii) evaluate integration strategies for A2V and MOF-FET arrays; and (iv) sensor performance evaluation in end-to-end testing. Phase II will focus on developing an integrated component system that implements the electrochemical detection methodology, with machine learning models to enhance sensor selectivity. Phase III will concentrate on full-scale production, commercialization, and deployment of the technology for public safety and health response applications. The proposed sensor can bridge the gap between aerosol-phase analytes and vapor-phase sensing by enabling efficient particle collection (>0.5 ?m), precise A2V conversion, and direct vapor delivery to high-performance sensors. Key approaches include optimizing microfluidic design, tailoring MOF-FET for targeted chemicals, and using machine learning algorithms to analyze complex mixtures in real time.