This 6-month project aims at fabricating and evaluating microsystems based on optical detection of toxic gas of interest.

Air pollution is problematic and the WHO classifies it as a definite carcinogen. In order to detect pollutants in different contexts, it is essential to have efficient, light and fast measuring devices. Colorimetric methods can meet this need by directly probing chemical reactivity, in particular by multiplying the number of probes used to obtain a specific optical signature of an analyte [Rakow and Suslick, Nature, (2000)].

We have recently developed a microsystem with multiple porous beads suitable for optical detection [Mugherli et al., LoC 2020]. This 6-month project aims to fabricate and evaluate such microsystems to detect a toxic gas of interest.

The research project will be divided into two main actions: (i) to fabricate materials and microsystems according to a sol-gel method specific to the laboratory, (ii) to optically characterize by UV-Vis spectroscopy or by fluorescence measurement, the probes and materials implemented and to evaluate the detection capacity of the engineered devices.