Multi-gas ultrasensitive terahertz technology for environmental quality monitoring

用于环境质量监测的多气体超灵敏太赫兹技术

• 批准号: 506470-2017
• 负责人: Tavares, Ana
• 金额: $ 14.17万
• 依托单位: Institut national de la recherche scientifique
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Strategic Projects - Group
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=666581
• 关键词: Multi; gas; ultrasensitive; terahertz; technology

Canadian mining industry significantly contributes to the internal gross domestic product. New mines or expansion of the existing ones are subject to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA 2012) as well as other provincial regulations. Such federal and local assessments demand the use of gas sensors in these harsh environments to detect the presence of hazardous gases such as NH3, CO, SO2, CO2, CH4, H2S, typically associated with mining activities. However, current multi-gas detection imposes combinations of individual gas sensors, which is a limiting solution because it lacks flexibility and strictly requires an a priori knowledge of the targeted gases. **In this Strategic project, we intend to develop a novel and compact multi-gas ultrasensitive THz system, which makes use of a single sensing surface to detect in real-time and to quantify multiple gases, even in a complex mixture. Moreover, an ad-hoc THz detector will be designed and incorporated in the final system to accurately retrieve the spectroscopic information collected from the sensing element. The final device will exhibit unprecedented performance in gas sensing such as high sensitivity (potentially down to the single molecule), high selectivity (gas molecules recognition and quantification) and real-time operation. The clarity of our strategy is the ideal prerequisite towards the successful commercialization in collaboration with our industrial partners (ACME and TeTechS). Our system will be then a key tool to monitor and reduce the environmental impact as well as to improve the efficiency of mining activities.**Finally, this proposal represents a perfect example of synergic effort between the academic members from INRS-EMT and the two companies involved, which combines the latest research in graphene chemistry with recent advances in nano-engineered plasmonic surfaces, as well as state-of-the-art terahertz time-domain spectroscopy systems. The know-how generated from this project as well as the training of at least 3 PhD and 1 PDF will contribute to keep Canada at the forefront of the high-technology sector.******

加拿大矿业行业为内部国内生产总值做出了重大贡献。新矿山或现有矿山的扩建受《加拿大环境评估法》（CEAA 2012）以及其他省级法规的约束。这种联邦和地方评估要求在这些恶劣环境中使用气体传感器，以检测出存在危险气体，例如NH3，CO，SO2，CO2，CH4，CH4，H2S，通常与采矿活动有关。但是，当前的多气检测构成了单个气体传感器的组合，这是一个有限的解决方案，因为它缺乏灵活性，并且严格要求对目标气体的先验知识。 **在这个战略项目中，我们打算开发一种新颖而紧凑的多气敏感THZ系统，该系统利用单个感应表面实时检测并量化多种气体，即使在复杂的混合物中也是如此。此外，将在最终系统中设计和合并一个临时THZ检测器，以准确检索从传感元素收集的光谱信息。最终设备将在气体传感中表现出前所未有的性能，例如高灵敏度（可能降低到单分子），高选择性（气体分子识别和定量）和实时操作。我们战略的清晰度是与我们的工业合作伙伴（ACME和TETECHS）合作成功商业化的理想先决条件。然后，我们的系统将成为监控和减少环境影响以及提高采矿活动效率的关键工具。该项目产生的专业知识以及至少3个博士学位和1个PDF的培训将有助于将加拿大保持在高科技领域的最前沿。********