Wearable sensors that detect gas leaks


PICTURE: Gas sensor view More

Image credit: POSTECH

Gas accidents such as toxic gas leaks in factories, carbon monoxide leaks from boilers, or the asphyxiation of toxic gases while cleaning manholes continue to claim lives and cause injuries. The development of a sensor that can quickly detect toxic gases or biochemicals remains a major issue in the public health, environmental surveillance, and military sectors. Recently, a research team at POSTECH developed an inexpensive, ultra-compact portable hologram sensor that instantly notifies the user of the detection of volatile gases.

A joint research team led by Professor Junsuk Rho from the Department of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering and Dr. Inki Kim from the Department of Mechanical Engineering with Professor Young-Ki Kim and Ph.D. Candidate Won-Sik Kim from the Department of Chemical Engineering at POSTECH has integrated the metasurface with the gas-reactive liquid crystal optical modulator to develop a sensor that provides an instant visual holographic alarm when harmful gases are detected. The results of this study were published in Science Advances on April 7, 2021.

For those who work in hazardous environments like petrochemical plants, gas sensors are life. However, conventional gas sensor devices are not widely used with complex machines and electronic devices because of their high manufacturing cost. In addition, commercial gas sensors have limitations in that they are difficult to use and have poor portability and responsiveness.

To solve these problems, the research team used the metasurface, known as the future optical device, which has the invisible wrapping effect in which visible objects disappear by controlling the refractive index of light. The meta-surface is used in particular for the transmission of two-way holograms or 3D video images through free light control.

Using the meta-surface, the research team developed a gas sensor that levitates a holographic image alarm in space in just a few seconds by using the polarization control of the transmitted light that transforms due to the change in the orientation of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer inside the sensor device, when exposed to gas. In addition, unlike other conventional commercial gas sensors, this gas sensor developed by the research team does not require any support from external mechanical or electronic devices. The researchers used isopropyl alcohol as a dangerous target gas known to be a toxic substance that can cause stomach pain, headaches, dizziness, and even leukemia.

It was confirmed that the newly developed sensor itself detects the minute amount of gas of around 200 ppm. In an actual experiment with a board marker, a volatile gas source in our daily lives, a visual holographic alarm was immediately triggered as soon as the marker was brought to the sensor.

In addition, the research team developed a one-step nanocomposite printing process to manufacture this flexible and portable gas sensor. The metasurface structure, previously processed on a hard substrate, was developed to enable rapid production with a one-step nanocasting process on a curved or flexible substrate.

When the flexible sensor made using this method is attached to protective goggles like a sticker, it can detect gas and display a hologram alarm. It is expected to be integrated with glass-type AR display systems currently being developed at Apple, Samsung, Google and Facebook.

To take it a step further, the research team is developing a high-performance environmental sensor that can display the type and concentration of gases or biochemicals in the environment with a holographic alarm, and is studying optical design techniques that can encode various holographic images. If successful, these studies can be used to reduce accidents caused by biochemical or gas leaks.

"This newly developed ultra-compact portable gas sensor provides a more intuitive holographic visual alarm than traditional audible or simple light alarms," ​​noted Prof. Junsuk Rho. "It is expected to be particularly effective in more extreme work environments where acoustic and visual noise are high."

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This study was conducted with support from the Mid-Career Researcher Program, Global Frontier, Regional Leading Research Center, Future Materials Discovery, and the Sejong Science Fellowship of the National Research Foundation of the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the correctness of the press releases published on EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of information via the EurekAlert system.


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