The project seeks to develop a mass-sensitive chemical sensor platform for detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in water. The technology to be used would employ chemically sensitive enrichment layers which sorb mass selectively and change the resonance frequency of the sensor device. The shape of the resonator is a novel disk-shaped rather than a cantilever resonator. This innovation is to improve the frequency resolution by employing shear, rather than compression of the surrounding fluid. The proposed sensor has the potential for inclusion in a wide variety of compact chemical and biological sensing systems, and possible implementation as part of a distributed network. The successful development of a system of this kind would potentially have both health and security benefits.
