Device and method for sensing the conductivity of a fluid

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12259347-B2
Application number	US-201916979114-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 11, 2019
Priority date	Mar 12, 2018
Publication date	Mar 25, 2025
Grant date	Mar 25, 2025

Abstract

A device and a method for sensing the electrolytic conductivity of a fluid are disclosed. The device comprises a battery ( 1 ) having an oxidizing electrode ( 2 ) and a reducing electrode ( 3 ) connected by a hydrophilic and/or a porous material or an empty receptacle ( 4 ) providing a microfluidic cavity for a fluid ( 10 ), said battery ( 1 ) being activated upon the addition of said fluid ( 10 ) therein and providing electrical energy while the fluid ( 10 ) impregnates by capillarity said microfluidic cavity; and at least one instrument ( 5 ) connected to the battery ( 1 ). The instrument ( 5 ) has an equivalent impedance that makes the battery ( 1 ) work at a specific operating point allowing determining or discriminating among values of electrolytic conductivity of the fluid ( 10 ) and includes means for quantifying the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid ( 10 ), thereby inferring the conductivity of the fluid ( 10 ) from the performance of the battery ( 1 ).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for sensing an electrolytic conductivity of a fluid, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a battery comprising an oxidizing electrode and a reducing electrode that are separated at a distance and connected by one of a hydrophilic material, a porous material, a combination of the hydrophilic material and the porous material, or an empty receptacle, thereby providing a microfluidic cavity,
a battery performance being sensitive to a presence of analytes with ionic charge that determine an electrolytic conductivity of the fluid to be sensed, the fluid acting as a battery electrolyte and not as fuel,
the oxidizing electrode comprising a first material that undergoes oxidation and the reducing electrode comprising a second material that undergoes reduction, the oxidizing electrode and the reducing electrode being indirectly in contact via the fluid,
an internal resistance of the battery depending on the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid, and
the battery being activated upon an addition of the fluid to the microfluidic cavity;

providing, by the battery, electrical energy while the fluid impregnates by capillarity the microfluidic cavity; and
connecting at least one instrument to the battery, the instrument being designed such that its equivalent impedance makes the battery work at a specific operating point allowing determining or discriminating among values of the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid via a Direct Current (DC) mode method,
wherein the instrument further quantifies the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid from the electrical energy provided by the battery,
wherein the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid is inferred from the battery performance.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising
adjusting a battery response by:
adding one or more chemical species to the fluid before its addition to the battery, or to the hydrophilic material, to the porous material, to the combination of the hydrophilic material and the porous material, or to the empty receptacle in order for an enzyme or an inorganic catalyst to react with a particular substance present in the fluid, thereby causing a change in an electrolytic conductivity range, or
adding salts before or after the fluid is added to the battery to increase the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid to achieve a selected sensitivity range; or
adding the enzyme, bacteria, or the inorganic catalyst to the fluid before its addition to the battery, or to the hydrophilic material, to the porous material, to the combination of the hydrophilic material and the porous material, or to the empty receptacle in order that the enzyme or the inorganic catalyst reacting with a particular substance present in the fluid causes a change in the electrolytic conductivity;
adding a given amount of titrant to the hydrophilic material, or to the porous material, or to the combination of the hydrophilic material and the porous material, or to the empty receptacle to determine a specific ion or molecule concentration of the fluid; or
adding an ion-selective membrane.

3. A device for sensing an electrolytic conductivity of a fluid, the device comprising:
a battery that is fluid-activated, the battery comprising an oxidizing electrode and a reducing electrode that are separated at a distance and connected by a hydrophilic material, by a porous material, by a combination of the hydrophilic material and the porous material, or by an empty receptacle, thereby providing a microfluidic cavity for a fluid, the battery being configured to provide electrical energy while the fluid impregnates by capillarity the microfluidic cavity; and
at least one instrument connected to the battery;
a battery performance being sensitive to a presence of analytes with ionic charge that determine an electrolytic conductivity of the fluid, the fluid acting as a battery electrolyte and not as a fuel;
the oxidizing electrode comprising a first material that undergoes oxidation and the reducing electrode comprising a second material that undergoes reduction, the oxidizing electrode and the reducing electrode being indirectly in contact via the fluid,
an internal resistance of the battery depending on the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid; and
the instrument being designed such that its equivalent impedance is configured to make the battery work at a specific operating point that allows determining or discriminating among values of the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid via a Direct Current (DC) mode method, wherein the instrument is further configured for quantifying the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid, wherein the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid is inferred from the battery performance.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein the battery is a paper-based battery.

5. The device of claim 3 , wherein the fluid is a water-based fluid, juice or milk, an ink or a biological fluid including saliva, urine, blood, sperm, plasma, serum, mucus, tears, feces, or sweat, or wherein the fluid comprises a non-aqueous liquid including an ionic liquid.

6. The device of claim 3 , wherein the instrument further comprises at least one electronic module configured to perform power management functions, signal control, and processing functions of an electrical signal captured from the battery or telecommunication functions.

7. The device of claim 6 , wherein the instrument further comprises at least one of: a memory to store a result-of a quantification, a communication unit to transmit said result to an external device, an indicator comprising an audible and/or a visual indicator including a buzzer, a screen, a display or an alarm to indicate the result.

8. The device of claim 3 , wherein the instrument is configured to be solely powered by an amount of electrical energy provided by the battery or is configured to be solely powered by an external power source or by an amount of electrical energy provided by the battery and amount of energy from an external power source.

9. The device of claim 3 , wherein the oxidizing electrode and the reducing electrode of the battery are arranged side by side, face to face or in an interdigitated configuration.

10. The device of claim 3 , further comprising several batteries connected in series to increase an output voltage or in parallel to increase an output current.

11. The device of claim 3 , wherein the hydrophilic material, the porous material, the combination of the hydrophilic material and the porous material, or the empty receptacle comprises an enzyme, bacteria or inorganic catalyst configured to react with a particular substance present in the fluid that causes a change in the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid.

12. The device of claim 3 , further comprising an ion selective membrane.

Assignees

• Consejo Superior Investigacion
• Inst Catalana Recerca Estudis Avancats
• Inst Catalana De Recerca I Estudis Avanats Icrea

Inventors

• Ortega Tañá Laura
• Llorella Bustins Anna
• Esquivel Bojorquez Juan Pablo
• Sabaté Vizcarra Neus

Classifications

• H01M10/484

  for measuring electrolyte level, electrolyte density or electrolyte conductivity · CPC title

• H01M6/32

  activated through external addition of electrolyte or of electrolyte components · CPC title

• G01R31/389

  Measuring internal impedance, internal conductance or related variables · CPC title

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title

• G01N27/07 Primary

  Construction of measuring vessels; Electrodes therefor · CPC title