GOALI: Ink-jet nanoparticle alignment layers for multi-responsive liquid crystal gas and vapor sensing

GOALI：用于多响应液晶气体和蒸汽传感的喷墨纳米颗粒排列层

• 批准号: 1807364
• 负责人: Torsten Hegmann
• 金额: $ 33万
• 依托单位: Kent State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-08-15 至 2022-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1807364&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: GOALI; Ink; jet; nanoparticle; alignment

To interact and function in today's environment, the human nervous system has developed specific sensory systems or organs, one or in some cases several dedicated to each sense. The five familiar senses are sight, taste, hearing, smell, and touch. Our senses create joy and pleasure, but also pain and sorrow. In some cases they warn us from imminent danger, in other cases they do not or only when it is already too late. This project focuses on liquid crystal-nanoparticle sensors for the qualitative and quantitative detection of toxic gases and vapors. These integrative sensors systems can display an unmistakable warning in the form of text or an image in the presence of toxic gases and vapors without any electrical power, and provide parts-per-million level sensitivity. The active component of these sensors is based on reactive, ink-jet printed nanoparticle alignment layers for nematic liquid crystals. In analogy to omnipresent liquid crystal displays, an image (or readable pattern) emerges due to the presence of specific hazardous toxic gases and vapors that could affect the lives and health of firefighters, military personnel in conflict zones, first responders, and workers in chemical manufacturing among others. Sensors for volatile compounds exhaled by humans can also be used to monitor disease states and disease progression such as in diabetes, liver disease, or cancer.The focus of the proposed activities is to advance recent findings that nanoparticles and particularly their surface functionalization induce and alter the orientation of nematic liquid crystal molecules in direct contact with them. By applying this concept, gold nanoparticles in the size regime between 1 and 10 nm with reactive surface ligands are synthesized and patterned via ink-jet printing to devise sensors for multiple hazardous (chlorine, phosgene, cyanide, amines, dialkyl chalcogenides) or less hazardous gases and vapors (ketones). The combination of nanoparticle ink-jet printing and established concepts of optical and electro-optical responses of nematic liquid crystals in contact with nanoparticles and other surfaces enables the creation of highly sensitive and selective sensors, where the sensing event produces a direct visual readout or warning without the use of electrical power. The proposed research in collaboration with an industrial partner offers new prospects for sensing harmful environments and monitoring disease progression, both quantitative and qualitative, wearable and remote, and with multiple detection modes. In conjunction with simulations, measurements of light transmission and birefringence in the presence and absence of applied electric fields provide unparalleled datasets for the development of liquid crystal sensors for the simultaneous quantitative and qualitative detection of multiple toxic and non-toxic gases and vapors. Overall, these activities create knowledge for advanced sensor materials and foster strong advanced material science education.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

为了在当今的环境中进行互动和功能，人类神经系统开发了特定的感觉系统或器官，一个或某些情况下，有几个专门针对每个意义的。五种熟悉的感觉是视觉，味觉，听力，闻到和触摸。我们的感官创造了喜悦和快乐，也可以痛苦和悲伤。在某些情况下，他们警告我们违规危险，在其他情况下，它们不会或仅在为时已晚的情况下没有。该项目着重于液晶 - 纳米颗粒传感器，用于定性和定量检测有毒气体和蒸气。这些集成传感器系统可以在没有任何电力的有毒气体和蒸气的情况下以文本或图像的形式显示出明确的警告，并提供每百万级的灵敏度。这些传感器的活性成分基于列明液晶的反应性墨水印刷的纳米颗粒比对层。与无处不在的液晶显示器类似，由于存在特定的有害有毒气体和蒸气，因此出现了图像（或可读的模式），这些气体和蒸气可能会影响消防员的生活和健康，冲突地区的军事人员，第一响应者，第一响应者以及化学制造业中的工人。人类呼出的挥发性化合物的传感器也可以用于监测疾病状态和疾病进展，例如在糖尿病，肝病或癌症中。拟议活动的重点是推进最近的发现，即纳米颗粒，尤其是其表面功能化诱导并改变与它们直接接触的列米液晶分子的方向。通过应用此概念，通过墨水射流打印合成和图案化，以1至10 nm的尺寸状态中的金纳米颗粒进行了多种危险（氯，氯，氰化物，氰化物，胺，核烷基Chalcogenides）或更少的危险气体和危险气体和va剂和驾驶员（浆果和葡萄剂（浆果酮））的传感器。纳米颗粒喷墨印刷以及与纳米颗粒和其他表面接触的列液晶的光学和电流响应的既定概念的结合，可以创建高度敏感和选择性的传感器，其中传感事件在不使用电力的情况下会产生直接的直观读数或警告。拟议的研究与工业合作伙伴合作提供了新的前景，以感知有害环境并监测定量和定性，可穿戴和遥远的疾病进展，并具有多种检测模式。结合模拟，在存在和不存在施加的电场的情况下测量光线和双折射，为开发液态晶体传感器的开发提供了无与伦比的数据集，以同时定量和定性检测多重有毒的和非毒性的气体和非毒性气体和蒸气。总体而言，这些活动为先进的传感器材料创造了知识，并培养了强大的高级材料科学教育。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并且使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的审查标准，被认为值得通过评估来获得支持。