"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."
Intellectual Merit: The objective of this proposal is to design a multifunctional chemiresistor sensor array which integrates a variety of preselected functionalized gold nanoparticles and supersensitive electrometers. The availability of such a device will be beneficial in healthcare or drug diagnostics where large amounts of data must be quickly collected and analyzed. The idea of the proposed sensor array is to electrostatically trap a different functionalized nanoparticle in each row of the array. The gold nanoparticles will be trapped in a nanogap, which is formed by an aluminum nitride quantum well sandwiched between gallium nitride layers. The proposed research exploits the use of single electron devices with Au nanoparticles, to demonstrate a multifunctional chemiresistor sensor array. Characterization of the devices will include measurement of the magnitude by which the current-voltage curves are altered upon exposure to volatile organic compounds. The long term goal is to explore the mechanisms (i.e., change in particle capacitance or charge) responsible for single molecule detection. Success of the research will enable fundamental studies of single molecule transfer events in nanoparticle based sensors.
Broader Impact: The proposed research promotes the use of chemiresistor sensors, which are attractive due to its simple and cheap fabrication methods and small size (~nm scale). Introducing the proposed multifunctional sensor array to society contributes to the advancement of medical, food and drug businesses. For example, these devices can easily be implemented in the automobile industry where sensors are needed to detect hydrocarbons or CO2 in exhaust gases. Also, the proposed chemiresistor sensors can enable the detection of trace explosives, which will be of interest to the nation's security industries. To cultivate a broadly inclusive science and engineering workforce, the proposed research is designed to promote scientific training of students while broadening the participation of underrepresented groups. This will be accomplished through a new educational program, called NOLA MOVERS (New Orleans Louisiana Minority Opportunities via Educational Research in Science). This summer program will be established to support students from a Historically Black College and University to participate in first class research at Rensselaer. Also, a unique research program will be established in Rensselaer's School of Science to mobilize "undeclared" science students.
