Project description
Novel luminescent composites underlie highly sensitive gas detectors
Every day, we are bombarded by invisible chemicals that are emitted as gases into the air by certain solids and liquids. Among the most common culprits are paints and solvents, cleaning products, stored fuels and aerosol sprays. In addition to the hazards that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) pose to us at home, they are also a concern for industry and the environment, affecting air quality and climate. Detecting them in a breath test has recently entered the realm of medical diagnostics as a promising way to diagnose diabetes. The EU-funded LUMIVOCS project is developing a highly sensitive VOC sensor that will also be able to distinguish relevant compounds quite selectively and at an affordable price. Its impact on human health could range from home and industrial settings to environmental monitoring and disease diagnostics.
Objective
The LUMIVOCS project will exploit the recently developed luminescent Guest@MOF composite materials, which exhibit unique phototunable properties to engineer a revolutionary sensor device to achieve low concentration ppm-level detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Such a compact VOC sensor could be deployed for toxic VOC detection in industry and sustainability applications, or, for use in diabetes diagnostics in the healthcare and biomedical sectors. Hitherto, none of the commercial VOC sensors in the market can fulfil the requirements of high sensitivity, high selectivity, and low cost all at once. The 18-month LUMIVOCS project will de-risk the proposed technology by delivering proof-of-concept data needed to move forward towards a commercial application. To this end, the major questions that will be addressed will encompass the following areas. (i) Engineering and prototyping of a compact VOC sensor device; (ii) Evaluation of detailed sensor performance; (iii) Assessment of sensor resilience against cross contamination and photobleaching; (iv) Manufacturability, sensor lifetime and mechanical resilience. The work will be conducted in collaboration with two industrial collaborators who will provide important technical input and will lend direction to the project to facilitate commercialisation.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcomposites
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryvolatile organic compounds
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineendocrinologydiabetes
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantHost institution
OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom