Nanotube Sensor for Measuring Arsenic Concentrations in Water

Arsenic contamination in water supplies poses a severe health risk to worldwide populations. The U.S. EPA has recently lowered arsenic water standards from 50 ppb to 10 ppb to address this risk. Many states, including California, either have passed or are soon to pass even stricter regulations. Currently available arsenic detection methods suffer from numerous drawbacks, including their inability to evaluate the water quality in real-time. They are also costly, bulky, complicated, and inaccurate. Mainstream has developed and demonstrated a new nanotube sensor that overcomes these obstacles.

Mainstream's prior experimentally work has demonstrated the feasibility of using ionization-based carbon nanotube sensors for arsenic detection. This prior work included the fabrication of carbon nanotube sensors and measuring breakdown voltages and the variation of discharge current as a function of concentration. The objective of the current effort is to optimize the carbon nanotube manufacturing process to achieve maximum performance and lower operating voltages, design the extraneous sub-systems, and test the complete detector. This carbon nanotube-based sensor will greatly benefit the USAF, among other agencies, by permitting real-time and accurate detection of arsenic concentrations in water reservoirs. This will enable much easier compliance with federal and state regulations.