Scientists from\u00a0Kaunas University of Technology\u00a0(KTU) have developed so-called gravimetric sensors that can detect greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and others. The researchers believe their sensors, which won the Sails of Europe 2023 award \u201cFor Investment in Innovation in Business\u201d, are a good alternative to electrochemical sensors currently in use, as they are more sensitive and use less energy.<\/p>\n
Led by Dr Darius Vir\u017eonis, the scientists came up with an idea to apply a certain measurement principle \u2014 gravimetry \u2014 to the development of the sensors. Gravimetry is based on changes in the oscillation frequency of the sensing elements in sensors that measure air pollution and also indicate a change in mass, which allows the detection of bound substances and specific molecules.<\/p>\n
As explained by Vir\u017eonis, the new sensors work based on capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs). \u201cThis is a way to make arrays of microscopic-sized cells that vibrate at a frequency of several million times per second,\u201d he said. \u201cAs the vibrating elements are very small, their moving mass is also small, which makes them very sensitive to external objects attaching to their surface.\u201d<\/p>\n
Focusing their research on the environment, the team decided to use the sensors to record greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and diesel fuel molecules. According to Vir\u017eonis, the technology offers a wide range of possibilities for detecting biological pollution and can even detect virus DNA.<\/p>\n
One of the advantages of the sensors is due to their small size, according to Vir\u017eonis. He explained, \u201cOur sensors can in a way be seen as scales weighing molecules. If you make the scales very small, you not only increase their sensitivity and accuracy but also reduce their cost and energy requirements. This creates the technological prerequisites to have more functionality at the same price or maybe even cheaper.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Vir\u017eonis, if air quality or pollution measurement devices become widely available in terms of cost and functionality, technical preconditions for better control of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions will be created. \u201cIf this control is ensured, we will all live under cleaner air, we will have more biodiversity and perhaps we will be able to reclaim the territories in East Asia that have already been practically lost to humanity due to air pollution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Vir\u017eonis added that the project will be particularly useful for future health research, as the same technological basis could allow for the development of more versatile and sensitive tools for the diagnosis of viral diseases. The scientists have now begun work on launching a startup company, Orius, whose task is to find the right niches and the right users for the new sensors.<\/p>\n
\u201cGravimetric gas sensors are an innovation, and we are delighted that our prototypes are already attracting interest from potential users,\u201d Vir\u017eonis said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Scientists from\u00a0Kaunas University of Technology\u00a0(KTU) have developed so-called gravimetric sensors that can detect greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and others. The researchers believe their sensors, which won the Sails of Europe 2023 award \u201cFor Investment in Innovation in Business\u201d, are a good alternative to electrochemical sensors currently in use, as they are more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[212],"tags":[358,390,606,607],"featured_image_src":{"landsacpe":["https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sensors-developed-by-l-800x445.jpg",800,445,true],"list":["https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sensors-developed-by-l-463x348.jpg",463,348,true],"medium":["https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sensors-developed-by-l-300x180.jpg",300,180,true],"full":["https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sensors-developed-by-l.jpg",800,480,false]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5013"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cirrus-centar.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}