Next Generation Sensor Materials Applications with the Trace Detection of Illicit Materials CH 2 Si H 2 C Si H 2 C Si H 2 C Si Si CH 2 Si CH 2 Si CH 2 Si CH 2 CH 2 Si Si CH 2 CH 2 H 2 C Si Si Si H 2 C Si C H 2 Si E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E “HC” CF 3 CF 3 O O O CF 3 OH OH CF 3 CF 3 O CF 3 CF 3 CF 3 n CF 3 CF 3 CF 3 CF 3 O O O CF 3 CF 3 OH OH CF 3 CF 3 CF 3 CF 3 O CF 3 CF 3 CF 3 CF 3 CF 3 CF 3 n Si O CF 3 HO F 3 C n CH 3 2000’s 1990’s 1980’s E = C(CF 3 ) 2 OH “FPOL” “SXFA” Normalized Nerve Agent Gas Sensor Response NRL Polymer POC: Andrew McGill, Code 6375, (202) 767-0063 [email protected] Eric Houser, Code 6375, (202) 767-8537 [email protected] Sponsor Acknowledgement: ONR, TSA, ATF, & DARPA Hyperbranched and dendritic polycarbosilane designs provide next generation materials O CF 3 CF 3 H O CF 3 CF 3 H O P CH 3 F O O CF 3 CF 3 H Polymer GB, Sarin Nerve Agent Hydrogen-Bond Transducer/Preconcentrator Functionalized polymers used to concentrate illicit substances for transducer, trapping/preconcentrator, or chromatography applications Program Goal - Design polymeric and nanostructured materials to maximize the selectivity & sensitivity of detectors used to monitor illicit substances Illicit Substances of Interest - Chemical Agents - Explosives - Biological Agents - Narcotics Results - New classes of chemoselective materials with optimal physicochemical properties including high thermal and chemical stability and low viscosity. - Dramatic improvement in sensitivity and selectivity for detection of chemical agents - Orders of magnitude improvement in trace detection of explosives Transition - 6 Recent related NRL patent applications - 3 companies have recently licensed 4 of these technologies - 2 Materials Transfer Agreements - 2 CRADA’s CASPAR is a micromachined preconcentrator coated with a hyperbranched polymer, to provide high flow collections of airborne illicit substances for enhanced trace detection CASPAR is readily incorporated into commercial detection equipment to markedly enhance trace detection of explosives & CW agents 0 50 100 150 Time (seconds) Detector Signal Log scale CASPAR enhanced detector signal for analyte exposure “CASPAR”, 0 5 10 15 20 25 FPOL SXFA HC HCM 0 5 10 15 20 25 FPOL SXFA HC HCM Industry Standard 20 X Improvement Flow through design 150 µm 150 µm Example Polymer Coated MEMS based Sensors 350 µm CASPAR attached to detector air intake 6 µm thick device provides a low thermal mass for rapid thermal cycling