Nanofiber Technology for Next Generation Chemical Sensors Company and Technical Overview Non-NDA Version
Organic Nanofiber Sensors
University of Utah Lab $4.0M research funding Ling Zang Professor, Nanomaterial Sensors 50 peer-reviewed papers 10 patents
Vaporsens Team Board of Directors $2.5M in awards President & CEO: Doug Later 25+Y in detection equipment, >$15M R&D Dir. Prod. Engr.: Ross Riches 30+Y engr. mgmt., MBA, Six Sigma R&D Coord.: Ben Bunes 10Y nanotech R&D, PhD from Zang Lab Bus. Dev.: Angela Mitcham MBA, customer discovery, go-tomarket strategy Lars Johansen Phil Grimm Doug Later Steve Vincent Ling Zang Electrical Engr.: Len Cardillo 30+Y elec. engr., various sensors Mech. Engr.: Kevin Durst Mech. design and simulation Embed. Engr.: Drew Janibagian FW and HW design Phys. Engr.: Charles McGuire Mech. design and simulation Synthetic Chemist: Paul Slattum 20+Y organic chemistry Anal. Chem.: Nichole Crane System testing, application development Technician.: Jayc Johnson Deposition proc. dev., sensor testing Technician: Avery Smith Sensor manufacturing and testing
Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building Built for USTAR, opened 2012 Bridges upper and lower campuses 208,000 sq. ft. lab & office Nanofab 18,000 sq. ft. Class 100, 1000, & 10,000 Micron Microscopy Core 5300 sq. ft. Center for Engineering Innovation 2 miles from SLC city center <1 hr. to 9 ski resorts
Nanofiber Sensors 10 μm Nanofiber Net 10 μm Mammals Nose
Morphology of Nanofibers Human hair Nanofiber >1,000 times smaller! 100 μm
Organic Molecules and Self-Assembly VAP-001 VAP-003 VAP-012 VAP-017 1 μm VAP-029 VAP-065 Selectivity/ Morphology Conductivity/ Self-Assembly Physical Thermodynamic Kinetic Morphology/ Self-Assembly 3 degrees of freedom Excellent selectivity
Nanofibers Sensors Especially sensitive to explosives, chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, narcotics, amines ~80 Nanofibers developed to date Scalable sensor manufacturing
Overview of Operation Nanofiber sensory materials Nanofibers coated on an IDE as a sensor Large surface area and porosity for high sensitivity 16 sensors using different nanofibers Good selectivity and sensitivity Vapor sample flows over sensor board Simple instrumentation for fast response time Pass Questionable Fail Decision is made based on the identification results A chemical fingerprint is generated Fingerprint is compared to entries in a library Sensors respond fast and differently to a chemical Signature response pattern
Normalized Response High Sensitivity 36 ppt of RDX 28 ppt of PETN 25 ppb of TATP Certified by Naval Research Lab. Data are baseline corrected and mean-centered.
Two Sensors Differentiate Three Classes of Analyte Nanofiber #1 Response Nanofiber #2 Response Current Change Peroxide Nitro Amine Fiber # 1 + - + Fiber # 1 + - + Fiber # 2 - - + Readout/specificity +- -- ++
Bigger Arrays, Better Selectivity
Application: Measuring Goodness of a Consumer Product 3 samples were provided Batch 1, certified good Batch 2, certified good but older than Batch 1 Oxidized, a rancid sample Our sensors were able to see a difference between good and bad sample Decay was observed during testing (real-time measurement of goodness ) Non-optimized sensor array was used for this study
Explosives Nitros Peroxides Fuel Oil/Oxidizers Nitromethane DNT (Dinitrotoluene) TNT (Trinitrotoluene) ANFO (Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil) Ammonium Nitrate PETN (may detect taggant) RDX (may detect taggant) TATP (Triacetone Triperoxide) H 2 O 2 (Hydrogen Peroxide) Volatile Organic Compounds Benzaldehyde Hexane Acetone Ethanol Diesel Fuel Nitrobenzene Formaldehyde Application: Chemical Portfolio (so far!) TICs - Toxic Industrial Chemicals Acids Acid Precursors Peroxides Cl 2 (Chlorine Gas) NH 3 (Ammonia) H 2 O 2 (Hydrogen Peroxide) SO 2 (Sulfur Dioxide) HCl (Hydrochloric Acid) TEP (Triethyl Phosphate) PH 3 (Phosphine) HCN (Hydrogen Cyanide) Arsine Formaldehyde Consumer Goods Trichloroanisole Melamine Trimethylamine Limonene Pinene Linalyl acetate Menthol Menthone Linalool CWAs - Chemical Warfare Agents Phosphates Sulfides Phosgene TEP (Triethylphosphate) DMMP (Dimethyl methylphosphonate) ) (Sarin Analog) 2-Chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (Mustard Gas) Triphosgene Methyl Salicylate Amines N-Methylphenethylamine (Methamphetamine analog) Phenethylamine (Adderall simulant) Methylamine (Used in Synthesis of Methamphetamine) Ammonia (Used in Synthesis of Methamphetamine) Aniline Triethylamine Diethylamine Value High Sensitivity Good Selectivity Multi-target Portable Small & Light Low Cost Durable Fast Response Field Replaceable Calibration-Free
Instrument and Sensor Array Development 2011 2016
Pilot 4.2 Beta Test Instrument