Abstract
(Englisch)
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As the deficit of clean water becomes more of a problem in Europe, there is a need to develop easily accessible, cheap and reliable Microsystems, which could be used for water pollution monitoring and early warning of many water European resources. The equipment available so far is mostly of laboratory type and measures water samples inserted to the measuring device. The objective of this proposal is to create a system of continuous water pollution monitoring in real time. Small and cheap smart sensors will be developed, which when inserted in many places of water resources will collect data about pollution. 'Ion Selective Field Effect Transistors' (ISFET) will be used as sensors. Data processing, coding, storing and transmitting circuits will be integrated on the same ship. Software for visualisation of the results will also be developed.
Objectives:
1. Development of methods for design and realisation of prototypes of flexible and reliable Microsystems, based on new types of ISEFT and other chemical sensors, selectively sensitive to various polluting ions, and immune to interference, temperature and deterioration over time;
2. Development of sensors suitable for detection of a large variety of non-organic polluting ions, with a broad range of sensitivity for ion concentrations and or all types of water resources and waste water in high-risk industrial regions;
3. Development of a cheap and easily accessible system for monitoring and early warning of water pollution.
Work description:
The project combines partners in electronics, information, environmental and chemical engineering and involves end-users, e.g. institutions responsible for water management.
The following tasks will be carried-out during the project:
1. Choice of the most important areas, where the Microsystems will be used. Creation of ion-selective materials for sensors, sensitive for monitoring of the relevant ions;
2. Production of Ion Selective Field Effect Transistors (ISFETs) sensors, sensitive to the selected ions (CHEMFETs) and having the requested range of selectivity and sensitivity. The sensors will be assessed from the point of view of selectivity, sensitivity, temperature dependence, hysteresis, and stability on time;
3. Computer simulation of the whole system;
4. Development of software and hardware for data from sensors coding, transmission, collection, storing and processing;
5. Assembling all the parts into one smart Microsystems, optimised from the point of view of cost, reliability, accuracy and lifetime. Lifetime is particularly important as most existing ISFETs can be now used continuously for not longer than days or a few weeks;
6. Testing the prototypes of the Microsystems in a real environment by institutions responsible for water management;
7. Industrialisation of the prototypes by industrial partners.
Milestones:
1. Creation of sensors based on ISFET technology that are selective for a wide range of ions. Sensors will be capable of combining with data processing circuitry;
2. Completion of software and hardware for data processing and storage;
3. Final optimisation of Microsystems final prototypes, with coding and data transmission facilities;
4. Final applications and preparation for industrial implementation.
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