Mission

We are developing a solid-state organic molecule-based sensor that uniquely detects various analytes, like nitrate, chromium, lead, arsenic, iron, copper, fluoride, calcium, zinc, E-Coli in real-time. This data can be used in monitoring the health of water and agricultural land for various applications. This leads to better health management of water and optimal fertilizer use and its inhabitants.

These sensor responses are very specific to the targeted analytes and are IoT-enabled to help in creating databases and information management. Sensors have been successfully demonstrated under laboratory conditions and industry-compliant prototypes are being developed.

Problem

At present most sensors for these analytes in water are bulky and expensive. Commercially available sensors are based either on electrochemical or optical, which has a significant limitation on uniquely selecting specific analytes in addition to repeated calibration issues. Thus, a higher occurrence of false positives and false negatives are possible, rendering such a mechanism unreliable and costly.

Solution

Here we have designed a conjugated polymer to detect a particular analyte with specific functional moieties that can interact with the targeted analyte. The conjugation on the backbone further amplifies the response. This specific interaction mechanism is also elucidated and confirmed by molecular modelling and simulation. These optimized molecules are used to fabricate an electronic device to manifest the analyte-sensor interaction to a signal. The IoT-based system is developed around these devices to create both real-time data and database creation for later use.

Current Status

At current, prototypes are ready and data collection reliability measurements are underway. By the end of Q1-2023, several units will be ready for field testing by interested organizations.