Nanotubes Promise Ultra-Small Wearable Oxygen Sensors

Summary posted by Meridian on 8/17/2009
Source: Royal Society of Chemistry
Author: Hayley Birch

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the National Energy Technology Laboratory, both in the United States, have created tiny oxygen-sensing devices made from carbon nanotubes. The devices could be used as low-power, wearable gas sensors that could benefit those working in confined spaces, such as mines, submarines, and space shuttles, where the monitoring of oxygen concentrations is essential for survival. The team endowed the nanotube networks with oxygen-sensing capabilities by "decorating" them with europium-containing complexes. According to Alexander Star, who worked on the project, "[A]lthough carbon nanotubes are not sensitive to many gases, they become sensitive once you decorate them or functionalise them with other moieties. This work is one example - when you add an oxygen sensitive moiety you make an oxygen sensor. So in a sense, carbon nanotubes can live up to their potential and become very great sensor platforms." He adds that these nanotube sensors could prove more practical than current sensors, and, because the amount of material needed to make each sensor is so small, cost would not be an issue. "They are probably small enough to operate from a watch battery, so I think the applications should be in wearable sensors. And because they detect oxygen at ambient conditions, they could be very appropriate for personal safety devices," Star said. The article can be viewed online at the link below.

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our team contact us site map	Nanotubes Promise Ultra-Small Wearable Oxygen Sensors Summary posted by Meridian on 8/17/2009 Source: Royal Society of Chemistry Author: Hayley Birch Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the National Energy Technology Laboratory, both in the United States, have created tiny oxygen-sensing devices made from carbon nanotubes. The devices could be used as low-power, wearable gas sensors that could benefit those working in confined spaces, such as mines, submarines, and space shuttles, where the monitoring of oxygen concentrations is essential for survival. The team endowed the nanotube networks with oxygen-sensing capabilities by "decorating" them with europium-containing complexes. According to Alexander Star, who worked on the project, "[A]lthough carbon nanotubes are not sensitive to many gases, they become sensitive once you decorate them or functionalise them with other moieties. This work is one example - when you add an oxygen sensitive moiety you make an oxygen sensor. So in a sense, carbon nanotubes can live up to their potential and become very great sensor platforms." He adds that these nanotube sensors could prove more practical than current sensors, and, because the amount of material needed to make each sensor is so small, cost would not be an issue. "They are probably small enough to operate from a watch battery, so I think the applications should be in wearable sensors. And because they detect oxygen at ambient conditions, they could be very appropriate for personal safety devices," Star said. The article can be viewed online at the link below. The original article may still be available at www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2009/August/16080901.asp As tagged by Meridian Institute: Health And Medical: Devices Implications: Human Enhancement, Military Applications, Economic Competitiveness Materials And Manufacturing: Electronics Nanomaterials: Carbon Nanoparticle Regions: North America Stakeholders: Academia Minerals And Metals: Minerals, Metals Related Forums: Health and Medical Materials and Manufacturing Metals and Minerals Economic Competitiveness print format	NDN Home Subscribe Manage Subscription Search News Archives Understanding Public Debate on Nanotechnologies: Options for Framing Public Policy -- The Innovation Society (2/8/2010) The Governance and Ethics Unit of the Directorate General for Research (DG Research) of the European Commission (EC) has published an overview paper on options for framing public policy on nanotechnologies. [More] UN Patent Filings Dropped for 1st Time Since 1978 -- ABC news (2/8/2010) The United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an entity through which a company can, for a fee, file a request for patent protection in any or all of the 142 countries that have subscribed to the U.N.'s Patent Cooperation Treaty, reported that the number of international patent filings dropped last year for the first time since 1978. [More] TECHNOLOGY: Science Panel Probes Renewable Energy's Current Use of China's Rare Metals -- Environment & Energy Daily (2/8/2010) A United States House of Representatives Science and Technology subcommittee this week will hold a hearing on rare earth mineral production and the resource's role in the growing clean energy industry. [More] Nanofood for Thought -- Nature Nanotechnology (2/5/2010) This editorial, in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, is in response to the recent report, "Nanotechnologies and Food", released in January by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, United Kingdom, that criticized the food industry for failing to be transparent about its research into the uses of nanotechnologies and nanomaterials. [More] More News... Learn how to include these headlines on your own website by clicking here. Please email us if you require text-only versions of the daily emails.