On-Demand Printing of Hazardous Compound Sensors

A growing myriad of chemical hazards pose substantial threats to the warfighter, with limited options for fieldable kits that can address the breadth and range of such hazards without placing undue burden on the warfighter’s carrying kit. To this end, the capability to rapidly produce low-cost, disposable on-demand colorimetric sensors for chemical threat detection in far forward settings would provide a dramatic enhancement to warfighter safety and operational assessment in the field. Clear Scientific proposes to formulate a key series of printable inks that are COTS-compatible with most common inkjet printers, allowing for CWA threat detection tickets to be readily printed for immediate use against suspected chemical contamination events. The formulated inks will shelf-stable in COTS ink cartridges, and work across a range of printer brands, producing printed sensors on common printer paper that provide high-contrast, selective, and zero-power rapid eye-readable responses to chemical hazards including both traditional and non-traditional CWAs, TICs, and TIMs.