Chemical selective sensors utilizing admittance modulated membranes
First Claim
1. An electrochemical sensor for selectively sensing chemical species of a fluid, said sensor consisting essentially ofa base substrate,a conductor carried by the base substrate,a first layer of material attached to the base substrate for producing and supplying electrical current across the boundary between the layer and the base substrate to the conductor in response to transport of ions of a certain species to the layer, where the magnitude of the electrical current produced is equal to the ionic current, said layer being comprised of a compound which includes said certain species,a membrane attached to the first layer for transporting ions to the layer, said membrane including gating molecules which selectively interact with the chemical species which is to be detected to thereby allow ions in the fluid to permeate the membrane,an alternating current source, one terminal of which is coupled by way of said conductor to the first layer,an electrode coupled to the other terminal of the alternating current source, andmeans coupled by way of said conductor to the first layer for detecting the electrical current produced by the first layer.
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Abstract
A chemical selective sensor system utilizes admittance modulated to detect the presence of chemicals or chemical species in a fluid. The sensor system includes a film or membrane adapted to pass ions when selected chemicals which are to be detected are present at the membrane surface. The membrane is attached to a hydrophilic layer of material which, in turn, is attached to a transformed layer which is deposited on a base substrate. When the selected chamicals are present in the fluid, the membrane interacts with the chemicals to allow ions, also in the fluid, to permeate the membrane. This ion current in the membrane is transformed or converted by the transformer layer to an electronic current which is measured by an electrical circuit coupled to the transformer layer of material. An alternating current source is coupled at one terminal to the transformer layer and to the measuring circuit, and at another terminal to a circuit return electrode.
494 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An electrochemical sensor for selectively sensing chemical species of a fluid, said sensor consisting essentially of
a base substrate, a conductor carried by the base substrate, a first layer of material attached to the base substrate for producing and supplying electrical current across the boundary between the layer and the base substrate to the conductor in response to transport of ions of a certain species to the layer, where the magnitude of the electrical current produced is equal to the ionic current, said layer being comprised of a compound which includes said certain species, a membrane attached to the first layer for transporting ions to the layer, said membrane including gating molecules which selectively interact with the chemical species which is to be detected to thereby allow ions in the fluid to permeate the membrane, an alternating current source, one terminal of which is coupled by way of said conductor to the first layer, an electrode coupled to the other terminal of the alternating current source, and means coupled by way of said conductor to the first layer for detecting the electrical current produced by the first layer.
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19. A solid state electrochemical sensor for selectively sensing chemical species in a fluid consisting essentially of
a base substrate, a transformer layer of material attached to the base substrate for transforming ionic current received at the layer into electronic current for application across the boundary between the layer and the base substrate, said layer being comprised of a compound which includes said chemical species, a plurality of membranes attached to the transformer layer and spatially separated from one another, each for transporting ions to the transformer layer and each including different gating molecules which selectively bind to different chemicals to be detected to thereby allow ions in the fluid to permeate the respective membrane. an alternating current source, one terminals of which is coupled to the transformer layer, an electrode coupled to the other terminal of the alternating current source, and means coupled to the transformer layer for detecting the electronic current developed in the layer.
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20. A solid state electrochemical sensor for selectively sensing chemical species in a fluid consisting essentially of
a base substrate, a transformer layer of material attached to the base substrate for transforming ionic current of a certain species received at the layer into electronic current, said layer comprising a compound which includes said species, a membrane attached to the transformer layer for transporting ions to the layer, said membrane including gating molecules at a plurality of spaced-apart locations on the membrane, where the gating molecules at each location selectively bind to different chemicals to be detected to thereby allow ions in the fluid to permeate the membrane at the respective location, an alternating current source, one terminal of which is coupled to the transformer layer, an electrode coupled to the other terminal of the alternating current source, and means coupled to the transformer layer for receiving and detecting the electronic current developed in the layer.
Specification