The objective of this research is to develop an airborne pathogen sensing system, capable of fast and sensitive environmental monitoring, for use in a broad range of infrastructures. The approach is to develop both microfluidic operations for sample collection and preparation and quantum dots-based nanosensors for identification of pathogens according to their ribosomal RNA sequences. The microfluidic unit and the nanosensor unit will be integrated into a system whose performance will be exemplified through analysis of Bacillus spores. The use of the droplet-based microfluidic operations will minimize the requirement of liquid volume and avoid the need for building moving components on the chip for sample processing that both reduces the consumption of biochemical reagents and the complexity in constructing an integrated microfluidic processing system. The highly sensitive rRNA nanosensors will eliminate the need for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, thereby simplifying assay protocols and system integration. This sensing system will have broader impacts with the societal benefits including (i) immediate detection of bio-warfare pathogens such as anthrax to prevent their possible catastrophe and (ii) surveillance of environments in, for example, transportation infrastructures, healthcare buildings, and workplaces. Besides, this research will also have significant impacts on education by (i) establishing micro/nano scientific visual library on web based on the research outcome; (ii) developing micro/nano science coursework with a lab session; and (iii) having undergraduates especially from the underrepresented groups to participate in the research activities.
