- The sensors operate through a previously unexplored mechanism that links nanoscale shape memory effects with visible color changes.
- Unlike most existing sensors, they require no power source and can provide immediate visual feedback.
- The technology shows promise for detecting chemicals in challenging environments such as solid materials and vapors – areas where conventional colorimetric sensors have been less successful.
The public encounters potentially harmful chemicals every day. The culprits can range from household items, indoor air quality, items in work settings or even transportation systems.
Home lead or asbestos test kits are available but not always reliable. But thanks to new research at the University of Florida, the availability of user-friendly, non-mechanical, reusable and affordable indicators may be on the horizon that will expose a wider variety of hazards.
Peng Jiang, Ph.D., a professor in UF’s Department of Chemical Engineering, or ChE, recently received a three-year National Science Foundation research grant that will help develop a new generation of non-mechanical, low-cost, reusable “smart” sensors that will visually detect hazardous chemicals by changing colors.