9361889 Groger The objective of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of developing highly selective thin film sensors to determine the identity and metabolic rate of micro-organisms in subsurface organic waste bioremediation processes. Questions to be addressed include identification of organic molecules for fabrication of thin films containing nutrients as functional groups which are used differentially by a range of microbial species, development of a miniaturized surface plasmon spectrometer to monitor the differential metabolism of micro- organisms, calibration under laboratory conditions and design of an engineering model of a microbial detector to monitor the bioremediation process. This is a Phase I award based on a proposal submitted in response to NSF 93-18, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Solicitation. Results are expected to identify design characteristics of a field operable method of identifying micro- organisms and determining rates of metabolism of selected species in the presence of toxic organic chemicals with potential applications in the chemical, food and pharmaceutical processing industries.
