Resonant gas sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10955378-B2
Application number	US-201916706542-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2019
Priority date	Jan 4, 2018
Publication date	Mar 23, 2021
Grant date	Mar 23, 2021

Abstract

A method for detecting an analyte comprises providing a first carbon-based material comprising reactive chemistry additives, providing conductive electrodes connected to the first carbon-based material, exposing the first carbon-based material to an analyte, applying a plurality of alternating currents having a range of frequencies across the conductive electrodes, and measuring the complex impedance of the first carbon-based material using the plurality of alternating currents.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sensor for detecting an analyte, comprising:
a flexible substrate; and
a resonant gas sensor, comprising:
a transducer arranged on the flexible substrate, the transducer including a first terminal configured to receive a plurality of alternating current (AC) signals from an external AC source;
a sensing material electrically coupled to the transducer, the sensing material including a first particulate carbon and a reactive chemistry additive; and
a ground electrode electrically coupled to a second terminal of the transducer.

2. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the first particulate carbon includes one or more carbon aggregates, each carbon aggregate comprising a plurality of carbon nanoparticles.

3. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the reactive chemistry additive comprises a redox mediator.

4. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the flexible substrate comprises paper or a flexible polymer.

5. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the sensing material is contained within a polymer binder.

6. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the reactive chemistry additive is tuned to one or more analytes.

7. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a printed shipping label or a printed food-packaging label.

8. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the transducer comprises a spiral antenna.

9. The sensor of claim 8 , wherein at least a portion of the sensing material is disposed between successive loops of the spiral antenna.

10. The sensor of claim 1 , further comprising a capacitive element coupled to the transducer.

11. The sensor of claim 10 , wherein the capacitive element and the transducer comprise a tank circuit.

12. The sensor of claim 11 , wherein the tank circuit is configured to indicate exposure of the sensor to the analyte based at least in part on changes in a resonant frequency of the tank circuit.

13. The sensor of claim 10 , wherein the capacitive element includes a pair of interdigitated electrodes.

14. The sensor of claim 13 , wherein at least a portion of the sensing material is disposed between one or more fingers of the interdigitated electrodes.

15. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the resonant gas sensor further comprises a detection component configured to receive one or more AC signals reflected or transmitted from the transducer.

16. The sensor of claim 15 , wherein the detection component is configured to indicate the exposure of the sensor to the analyte based at least in part on a complex impedance of the sensing material.

17. The sensor of claim 15 , wherein the detection component is configured to indicate exposure of the sensor to the analyte based at least in part on the one or more AC signals reflected or transmitted from the transducer.

18. The sensor of claim 17 , wherein the detection component is configured to indicate the exposure of the sensor to the analyte based at least in part on a resonant frequency of the one or more AC signals reflected or transmitted from the transducer.

19. The sensor of claim 18 , wherein the resonant frequency is indicative of a type of the analyte exposed to the sensor.

20. The sensor of claim 18 , wherein the resonant frequency is indicative of a concentration of the analyte exposed to the sensor.

Assignees

• Lyten Inc

Inventors

• Stowell Michael W
• Lanning Bruce
• Lim Sung H
• Singh Shreeyukta
• Chmiola John

Classifications

• G01N27/127 Primary

  comprising nanoparticles · CPC title

• C01B2204/32

  Size or surface area · CPC title

• C01B2204/22

  Electronic properties · CPC title

• C01B2204/04

  Specific amount of layers or specific thickness · CPC title

• G01N2291/014

  Resonance or resonant frequency · CPC title