Novel UV Broadband Spectrometer Revolutionises Air Pollutant Analysis

The laser-based technology developed at TU Graz enables the continual real-time analysis of air pollutants and their interaction with other gases and sunlight

11-Apr-2024 - Sunlight has a major influence on chemical processes. Its high-energy UV radiation in particular is strongly absorbed by all materials and triggers photochemical reactions of the substances present in the air. A well-known example is the formation of ground-level ozone when UV light hits nitrogen ...

A mobile breakthrough for water environment monitoring

A novel colorimetric multi-channel sensor on cell phone platform

26-Jan-2023 - Reliable colorimetric analysis technologies have been widely praised for their highly sensitive and selective responses towards various contaminants in environmental monitoring. In principle, the chromogenic agent selectively reacts with the target in water samples, and the colored product ...

Seeing concentrations of toxins with the naked eye

New test detects compounds for disease diagnostics, environmental monitoring

07-Nov-2022 - Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a fast and cost-effective method to test liquids for a ubiquitous family of chemical compounds known as amphiphiles, which are used to detect diseases such as early-stage tuberculosis and ...

Detecting nanoplastics in the air

“Nanoplastics are a major concern if they’re in the air that you breathe, getting into your lungs and potentially causing health problems”

29-Aug-2022 - Large pieces of plastic can break down into nanosized particles that often find their way into the soil and water. Perhaps less well known is that they can also float in the air. It’s unclear how nanoplastics impact human health, but animal studies suggest they’re potentially harmful. As a step ...

An improved wearable, stretchable gas sensor using nanocomposites

Ultrasensitive nitrogen dioxide gas sensor may find applications in real-time environmental monitoring or the healthcare industry

01-Sep-2020 - A stretchable, wearable gas sensor for environmental sensing has been developed and tested by researchers at Penn State, Northeastern University and five universities in China. The sensor combines a newly developed laser-induced graphene foam material with a unique form of molybdenum disulfide ...

Promising sensors for submarines, mines and spacecraft

14-Nov-2017 - Researchers from the Physics Department of Moscow State University and their colleagues have discovered a mechanism that allows gas sensors, based on nanocrystalline metal oxides, to work at room temperature. This invention will raise the efficiency of environmental monitoring at nuclear power ...

A spectroscopic 'science camera' system for smartphones

15-Sep-2017 - The latest versions of most smartphones contain at least two and sometimes three built-in cameras. Researchers at the University of Illinois would like to sell mobile device manufactures on the idea of adding yet another image sensor as a built-in capability for health diagnostic, environmental ...

Nanobionic spinach plants can detect explosives

After sensing dangerous chemicals, the carbon-nanotube-enhanced plants send an alert.

01-Nov-2016 - Spinach is no longer just a superfood: By embedding leaves with carbon nanotubes, MIT engineers have transformed spinach plants into sensors that can detect explosives and wirelessly relay that information to a handheld device similar to a smartphone. This is one of the first demonstrations of ...

Water and light 'flow' inspire ultrasensitive optical microfiber coupler sensor

07-Sep-2016 - When a river narrows or two rivers run into each other and merge, the water flow's speed increases and it becomes much stronger. Water flow and light flow are similar in many ways, and this inspired a group of researchers from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and the University of ...

New mid-infrared laser system could detect atmospheric chemicals

30-Jun-2016 - Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have found a new way of using mid-infrared lasers to turn regions of molecules in the open air into glowing filaments of electrically charged gas, or plasma. The new method could make it possible to carry out remote environmental monitoring to detect a wide range ...