Suspended 1D metal oxide nanostructure-based gas sensor

Department of Materials Science and EngineeringWe developed a novel batch fabrication technology for the ultralow-power-consumption metal oxide gas sensing platform consisting of a suspended glassy carbon heating nanostructure and hierarchical metal oxide nanostructures forests fabricated by the carbon-micro electromechanical systems (carbon-MEMS) and selective nanowire growth process. We have developed a new manufacturing process for suspended glass carbon nanostructures such as single nanowire, nano-mesh and nano-membranes fabricated using carbon-MEMS consisting of the UV-lithography and the polymer pyrolysis processes. We designed a gas sensing platform consisting of suspended glassy carbon heating nanostructures and suspended hierarchical metal oxide nanostructure forests for the sensing part. Glassy carbon structure produced by the carbon-MEMS has many advantages such as high thermal & chemical stabilities, good hardness, and good thermal & electrical characteristics. The electrical conductivity of glassy carbon nanostructures has been increased more than three times by using rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process owing to the inferior heating property of glassy carbon nano-heater in the electrical conductivity. In order to divide the suspended glassy carbon nano-heater and the suspended hierarchical metal oxide nanostructures forests, the insulating layer of HfO2 materials is a high dielectric constant and is deposited uniformly using a atomic layer deposition (ALD) process on a suspended glassy carbon nano-heater. Suspended hierarchical metal oxide nanostructures forests were grown circumferentially on the suspended HfO2/glassy carbon nano-heater using a hydrothermal method consisting of the seed deposition and the growth processes. For selective metal oxide seed layer deposition process, a short-time exposed polymer patterning process was performed using the positive photoresist. After the polymer patterning process, a metal oxide seed layer is deposited using the rf-sputtering system, followed by a metal oxide nanostructure growth process. The distinguishing architecture of a suspended hierarchical metal oxide nanostructures forests/HfO2/glassy carbon nanostructure ensures efficient mass transport to the metal oxide nanostructure detection point of the gas analyte, resulting in highly sensitive gas detection. In the absence of an external heating system, the ultralow-power-consumption gas sensing platform of a suspended hierarchical metal oxide nanostructures forests/HfO2/glassy carbon nanostructure has excellent the gas sensing characteristics.ope

Monolithic carbon structures including suspended single nanowires and nanomeshes as a sensor platform

With the development of nanomaterial-based nanodevices, it became inevitable to develop cost-effective and simple nanofabrication technologies enabling the formation of nanomaterial assembly in a controllable manner. Herein, we present suspended monolithic carbon single nanowires and nanomeshes bridging two bulk carbon posts, fabricated in a designed manner using two successive UV exposure steps and a single pyrolysis step. The pyrolysis step is accompanied with a significant volume reduction, resulting in the shrinkage of micro-sized photoresist structures into nanoscale carbon structures. Even with the significant elongation of the suspended carbon nanowire induced by the volume reduction of the bulk carbon posts, the resultant tensional stress along the nanowire is not significant but grows along the wire thickness; this tensional stress gradient and the bent supports of the bridge-like carbon nanowire enhance structural robustness and alleviate the stiction problem that suspended nanostructures frequently experience. The feasibility of the suspended carbon nanostructures as a sensor platform was demonstrated by testing its electrochemical behavior, conductivity-temperature relationship, and hydrogen gas sensing capability.open3

A Three-Step Resolution-Reconfigurable Hazardous Multi-Gas Sensor Interface for Wireless Air-Quality Monitoring Applications

This paper presents a resolution-reconfigurable wide-range resistive sensor readout interface for wireless multi-gas monitoring applications that displays results on a smartphone. Three types of sensing resolutions were selected to minimize processing power consumption, and a dual-mode front-end structure was proposed to support the detection of a variety of hazardous gases with wide range of characteristic resistance. The readout integrated circuit (ROIC) was fabricated in a 0.18 ??m CMOS process to provide three reconfigurable data conversions that correspond to a low-power resistance-to-digital converter (RDC), a 12-bit successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and a 16-bit delta-sigma modulator. For functional feasibility, a wireless sensor system prototype that included in-house microelectromechanical (MEMS) sensing devices and commercial device products was manufactured and experimentally verified to detect a variety of hazardous gases

L-Asparaginase delivered by Salmonella typhimurium suppresses solid tumors

Bacteria can be engineered to deliver anticancer proteins to tumors via a controlled expression system that maximizes the concentration of the therapeutic agent in the tumor. L-asparaginase (L-ASNase), which primarily converts asparagine to aspartate, is an anticancer protein used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In this study, Salmonellae were engineered to express L-ASNase selectively within tumor tissues using the inducible araBAD promoter system of Escherichia coli. Antitumor efficacy of the engineered bacteria was demonstrated in vivo in solid malignancies. This result demonstrates the merit of bacteria as cancer drug delivery vehicles to administer cancer-starving proteins such as L-ASNase to be effective selectively within the microenvironment of cancer tissue

Mixed-scale channel networks including Kingfisher-beak-shaped 3D microfunnels for efficient single particle entrapment

Reproducible research results for nanofluidics and their applications require viable fabrication technologies to produce nanochannels integrated with microchannels that can guide fluid flow and analytes into/out of the nanochannels. We present the simple fabrication of mixed-scale polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channel networks consisting of nanochannels and microchannels via a single molding process using a monolithic mixed-scale carbon mold. The monolithic carbon mold is fabricated by pyrolyzing a polymer mold patterned by photolithography. During pyrolysis, the polymer mold shrinks by ???90%, which enables nanosized carbon molds to be produced without a complex nanofabrication process. Because of the good adhesion between the polymer mold and the Si substrate, non-uniform volume reduction occurs during pyrolysis resulting in the formation of curved carbon mold side walls. These curved side walls and the relatively low surface energy of the mold provide efficient demolding of the PDMS channel networks. In addition, the trigonal prismatic shape of the polymer is converted into to a Kingfisher-beak-shaped carbon structure due to the non-uniform volume reduction. The transformation of this mold architecture produces a PDMS Kingfisher-beak-shaped 3D microfunnel that connects the microchannel and the nanochannel smoothly. The smooth reduction in the cross-sectional area of the 3D microfunnels enables efficient single microparticle trapping at the nanochannel entrance; this is beneficial for studies of cell transfection.clos

Development of patternable nanoporous carbon electrodes for use as biosensors based on redox cycling effect

This paper reports a highly sensitive electrochemical-enzymatic redox cycling based biosensor platform using patternable nanoporous carbon electrodes. 3D carbon electrodes with macro-/micro-sized pores were fabricated in a batch way using microwave O2 plasma etching and carbon-MEMS consisting of conventional UV-lithography and pyrolysis. Enzymes (glucose oxidase (GOx) in this study) were immobilized on the nanoporous carbon electrode via diazonium reduction. The enzyme-functionalized nanoporous carbon based sensors exhibited enhanced response for glucose with limits of detection of 216 ??M and sensitivity of 53.42 ??M mM-1 cm-2 compared to a bare-carbon-based sensor by 2.1 times and 26.0 % respectively

Development of a hydrogen gas sensor based on a suspended monolithic carbon nanowire platform

We introduce a hydrogen gas sensor based on a suspended monolithic carbon nanowire structure. This structure provides selective and sensitive hydrogen sensing capability and unique advantages overcoming limitation of on-plane nanostructure based sensors. The fabrication of suspended carbon nanowire consists of simple two-step conventional microfabrication processes; photolithography and pyrolysis. The monolithic structure ensures perfect ohmic contact between the nanowire and the electrical contact pads. 20 ppm of hydrogen was successfully detected by a suspended monolithic carbon nanowire (width 300 nm, thickness 600 nm, distance between the nanowire and the substrate 7.3 ??m) coated wiht a 10-nm-thick palladium layer

Self-heating hydrogen gas sensor based on an array of single suspended carbon nanowires functionalized with palladium nanoparticles

This study reports the development of a novel hydrogen gas sensor based on an array of single suspended carbon nanowires (diameter similar to 200 nm, length similar to 100 mu m) decorated with Pd nanoparticles (PdNPs) of various sizes for room temperature H-2 gas sensing. These sensors provide high sensitivity, a wide sensing range (10 ppm - 5%), and complete gas response recovery in 5 s with ultralow power consumption (30 mu W). Such performance is achieved using a novel suspended PdNP/carbon nanowire architecture, which offers enhanced mass transfer, high surface area to volume ratios, and good thermal insulation. This platform can be fabricated using simple batch microfabrication processes including carbon-MEMS and electrodeposition. The sensitivity and range of the sensor can be modulated by controlling Pd nanoparticle sizes (3-5 nm PdNPs: 3.2% ppm(-1/2), 10-1000 ppm; 10-15 nm PdNPs: 0.32% ppm(-1/2), 700 ppm - 5%). A wide sensing range is achieved by integrating nanowires with various sizes of PdNPs onto a chip. The electrical resistance of a suspended PdNP/carbon nanowire quickly and completely recovers its original state in a very short time via ultralow-power, Joule heat-based self-heating. This enables reproducible and long-term durable gas sensing.clos