scholarly journals Proof of Concept Study of an Electrochemical Sensor for Inland Water Monitoring with a Network Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 4026
Author(s):  
Anna Sabatini ◽  
Alessandro Zompanti ◽  
Simone Grasso ◽  
Luca Vollero ◽  
Giorgio Pennazza ◽  
...  

The technologies most suitable for monitoring the ecosystem of inland waters are image spectrometry and electrochemical sensors. The reason is that these instruments are able to ensure accuracy in the surveillance of very large areas through reliable and frequent measurements performed remotely. Electrochemical systems provide low-cost, miniaturized, reliable sensors that can be organized, when equipped with commercial on the shelf (COTS) low-power radio components implementing LoRaWAN, Sigfox or NB-IoT communications, in a dense network of sensors achieving the aforementioned requirements. In this work, a low-cost, low-size and low-noise electrochemical sensor endowed with protocols for network configuration, management and monitoring is presented. The electronic interface of the sensor allows high reproducible responses. As proof of concept for its utilization in inland water monitoring, the device has been tested for water composition analysis, bacteria identification and frequent pollutant detection: atrazine, dichloromethane and tetrachloroethene. The results are promising, and future investigations will be oriented to unlock the true potential of a general-purpose approach exploiting the continuous fusion of distributed data in each of the three considered application scenarios. A new device, with reduced power consumption and size, has been also developed and tested; this new device should be a node of a large network for inland water monitoring.

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasreen Mohsin ◽  
Shahram Payandeh ◽  
Derek Ho ◽  
Jean Pierre Gelinas

This paper proposes a proof-of-concept, low-cost, and easily deployable Bluetooth low energy- (BLE-) based localization system which actively scans and localizes BLE beacons attached to mobile subjects in a room. Using the received signal strength (RSS) of a BLE signal and the uniqueness of BLE hardware addresses, mobile subjects can be identified and localized within the hospital room. The RSS measurement of the BLE signal from a wearable BLE beacon varies with distance to the wall-anchored BLE scanner. In order to understand and demonstrate the practicality of the relationship between RSS of a BLE beacon and the distance of a beacon from a scanner, the first part of the paper presents the analysis of the experiments conducted in a low-noise and nonreflective environment. Based on the analysis conducted in an ideal environment, the second half of the paper proposes a data-driven localization process for pinpointing the movements of the subject within the experimental room. In order to ensure higher accuracy like fingerprinting techniques and handle the increased number of BLE-anchored scanners like geometric techniques, the proposed algorithm was designed to combine the best aspects of these two techniques for better localization. The paper evaluates the effects of the number of BLE wall-mounted scanners and the number of packets on the performance of the proposed algorithm. The proposed algorithm locates the patient within the room with error less than 1.8 m. It also performs better than other classical approaches used in localization.


Sensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 3464
Author(s):  
Shuisheng Wu ◽  
Nianyuan Tan ◽  
Donghui Lan ◽  
Chak-Tong Au ◽  
Bing Yi

Natural eucalyptus biomorphic porous carbon (EPC) materials with unidirectional ordered pores have been successfully prepared by carbonization in an inert atmosphere. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were employed to characterize the phase identification, microstructure and morphology analysis. The carbon materials were used to fabricate electrochemical sensors to detect hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) without any assistance of enzymes because of their satisfying electrocatalytic properties. It was immobilized on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with chitosan (CHIT) to fabricate a new kind of electrochemical sensor, EPC/CHIT/GCE, which showed excellent electrocatalytic activity in the reduction of H2O2. Meanwhile, EPC could also promote electron transfer with the help of hydroquinone. The simple and low-cost electrochemical sensor exhibited high sensitivity, and good operational and long-term stability.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 3775
Author(s):  
Arif Ul Alam ◽  
Dennis Clyne ◽  
M. Jamal Deen

Multi-parameter water quality monitoring is crucial in resource-limited areas to provide persistent water safety. Conventional water monitoring techniques are time-consuming, require skilled personnel, are not user-friendly and are incompatible with operating on-site. Here, we develop a multi-parameter water quality monitoring system (MWQMS) that includes an array of low-cost, easy-to-use, high-sensitivity electrochemical sensors, as well as custom-designed sensor readout circuitry and smartphone application with wireless connectivity. The system overcomes the need of costly laboratory-based testing methods and the requirement of skilled workers. The proposed MWQMS system can simultaneously monitor pH, free chlorine, and temperature with sensitivities of 57.5 mV/pH, 186 nA/ppm and 16.9 mV/°C, respectively, as well as sensing of BPA with <10 nM limit of detection. The system also provides seamless interconnection between transduction of the sensors’ signal, signal processing, wireless data transfer and smartphone app-based operation. This interconnection was accomplished by fabricating nanomaterial and carbon nanotube-based sensors on a common substrate, integrating these sensors to a readout circuit and transmitting the sensor data to an Android application. The MWQMS system provides a general platform technology where an array of other water monitoring sensors can also be easily integrated and programmed. Such a system can offer tremendous opportunity for a broad range of environmental monitoring applications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-63
Author(s):  
Mehmood Shahid ◽  
Yiqiang Zhan ◽  
Waqar Ahmed ◽  
Suresh Sagadevan

Amongst the extended list of metal oxides, Co3O4 has gained envisioned attention in various technological fields. It has a proven record of promising material in optical, optoelectronics, sciences, engineering, medicines and biological fields of studies. Co3O4 is a promising candidate due to its large surface-to-volume ratio, simple preparation methods, higher well-defined electrochemical redox activity, high theoretical capacity, low cost, and stable chemical states. Co3O4 has been used in various applications such as fuel cells, photoelectrochemical water splitting, solar cells, supercapacitors, batteries and electrochemical sensors due to its applicability in various fields. It has shown promising outcomes as an electrochemical sensor in various areas such as in the detection of water contamination, as physiological molecule detectors etc. this mini-review summarizes the fields of contaminated water, as fuel and also in the physiological system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Wilson Silva Fernandes-Junior ◽  
Leticia Fernanda Zaccarin ◽  
Geiser Gabriel Oliveira ◽  
Paulo Roberto de Oliveira ◽  
Cristiane Kalinke ◽  
...  

The use of nanostructured materials is already well-known as a powerful tool in the development of electrochemical sensors. Among several immobilization strategies of nanomaterials in the development of electrochemical sensors, the use of low-cost and environmentally friendly polymeric materials is highlighted. In this context, a new nanostructured biocomposite electrode is proposed as an electrochemical sensor for the analysis and determination of tetracycline. The composite electrode consists of a modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with a nanodiamond-based (ND) and manioc starch biofilm (MS), called ND-MS/GCE. The proposed sensor showed better electrochemical performance in the presence of tetracycline in comparison to the unmodified electrode, which was attributed to the increase in the electroactive surface area due to the presence of nanodiamonds. A linear dynamic range from 5.0 × 10 − 6 to 1.8 × 10 − 4  mol L−1 and a limit of detection of 2.0 × 10 − 6  mol L−1 were obtained for the proposed sensor. ND-MS/GCE exhibited high repeatability and reproducibility for successive measurements with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 6.3% and 1.5%, respectively. The proposed electrode was successfully applied for the detection of tetracycline in different kinds of water samples, presenting recoveries ranging from 86 to 112%.


Author(s):  
T. P. Nolan

Thin film magnetic media are being used as low cost, high density forms of information storage. The development of this technology requires the study, at the sub-micron level, of morphological, crystallographic, and magnetic properties, throughout the depth of the deposited films. As the microstructure becomes increasingly fine, widi grain sizes approaching 100Å, the unique characterization capabilities of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) have become indispensable to the analysis of such thin film magnetic media.Films were deposited at 225°C, on two NiP plated Al substrates, one polished, and one circumferentially textured with a mean roughness of 55Å. Three layers, a 750Å chromium underlayer, a 600Å layer of magnetic alloy of composition Co84Cr14Ta2, and a 300Å amorphous carbon overcoat were then sputter deposited using a dc magnetron system at a power of 1kW, in a chamber evacuated below 10-6 torr and filled to 12μm Ar pressure. The textured medium is presently used in industry owing to its high coercivity, Hc, and relatively low noise. One important feature is that the coercivity in the circumferential read/write direction is significandy higher than that in the radial direction.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 628-634
Author(s):  
Rong Liu ◽  
Jie Li ◽  
Tongsheng Zhong ◽  
Liping Long

Background: The unnatural levels of dopamine (DA) result in serious neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Electrochemical methods which have the obvious advantages of simple operation and low-cost instrumentation were widely used for determination of DA. In order to improve the measurement performance of the electrochemical sensor, molecular imprinting technique and graphene have always been employed to increase the selectivity and sensitivity. Methods: An electrochemical sensor which has specific selectivity to (DA) was proposed based on the combination of a molecular imprinting polymer (MIP) with a graphene (GR) modified gold electrode. The performance and effect of MIP film were investigated by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) in the solution of 5.0 ×10-3 mol/L K3[Fe(CN)6] and K4[Fe(CN)6] with 0.2 mol/L KCl at room temperature. Results: This fabricated sensor has well repeatability and stability, and was used to determine the dopamine of urine. Under the optimized experiment conditions, the current response of the imprinted sensor was linear to the concentration of dopamine in the range of 1.0×10-7 ~ 1.0×10-5 mol/L, the linear equation was I (µA) = 7.9824+2.7210lgc (mol/L) with the detection limit of 3.3×10-8 mol/L. Conclusion: In this work, a highly efficient sensor for determination of DA was prepared with good sensitivity by GR and great selectivity of high special recognization ability by molecular imprinting membrane. This proposed sensor was used to determine the dopamine in human urine successfully.


2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-206
Author(s):  
Giovanni Alfonso Chiariello ◽  
Saimir Kuci ◽  
Guglielmo Saitto ◽  
Massimo Massetti ◽  
Ottavio Alfieri ◽  
...  

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 4214
Author(s):  
Christopher Zuidema ◽  
Cooper S. Schumacher ◽  
Elena Austin ◽  
Graeme Carvlin ◽  
Timothy V. Larson ◽  
...  

We designed and built a network of monitors for ambient air pollution equipped with low-cost gas sensors to be used to supplement regulatory agency monitoring for exposure assessment within a large epidemiological study. This paper describes the development of a series of hourly and daily field calibration models for Alphasense sensors for carbon monoxide (CO; CO-B4), nitric oxide (NO; NO-B4), nitrogen dioxide (NO2; NO2-B43F), and oxidizing gases (OX-B431)—which refers to ozone (O3) and NO2. The monitor network was deployed in the Puget Sound region of Washington, USA, from May 2017 to March 2019. Monitors were rotated throughout the region, including at two Puget Sound Clean Air Agency monitoring sites for calibration purposes, and over 100 residences, including the homes of epidemiological study participants, with the goal of improving long-term pollutant exposure predictions at participant locations. Calibration models improved when accounting for individual sensor performance, ambient temperature and humidity, and concentrations of co-pollutants as measured by other low-cost sensors in the monitors. Predictions from the final daily models for CO and NO performed the best considering agreement with regulatory monitors in cross-validated root-mean-square error (RMSE) and R2 measures (CO: RMSE = 18 ppb, R2 = 0.97; NO: RMSE = 2 ppb, R2 = 0.97). Performance measures for NO2 and O3 were somewhat lower (NO2: RMSE = 3 ppb, R2 = 0.79; O3: RMSE = 4 ppb, R2 = 0.81). These high levels of calibration performance add confidence that low-cost sensor measurements collected at the homes of epidemiological study participants can be integrated into spatiotemporal models of pollutant concentrations, improving exposure assessment for epidemiological inference.


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