Sensor Development for Determination of Organic Compounds at Concentration Levels Below µM

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Sensor Development for Determination of Organic Compounds at Concentration Levels Below µM

This is a suggestion for a Degree Project for Bachelor's and Master's levels at the Department of Marine 91̽��s. Degree projects at the Department of Marine 91̽��s are done independently and must be written and assessed individually.

Subject: Marine Chemistry

Level: Master 45 or 60 hp
Supervisor: Katarina Abrahamsson

Project background

The following project is a part of the construction of a sensor for the qualitative determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).

The recognition of rapid changes in the Earth System demands sustained, continuous and integrated observations. For the past centuries, observations of biogeochemical phenomena have been dominated by ship-based technology resulting in limited spatial and temporal resolution of the data. To address today's and tomorrow's challenges, there is a need for much greater automation.

Many of the parameters of interest are present in low concentrations. These low levels must not only be detected, but quantified with a high degree of confidence. Sensing technologies must at least have limits of detection that are applicable to the marine environment, and resolution of less than 2% of the range of concentrations present.

Estuarine environments frequently present the highest concentrations, making sensor design for this application easier. Preferably sensors for a given parameter should be able to operate over the range of concentrations present in all target environments.

Project description

The project includes the construction of substrate for surface enhancement of organic molecules i.e. PAH for inclusion in a sensor system based on Raman spectroscopy.

The substrates will be tested in the laboratory. The evaluation of the collected data will be performed with multivariate statistical methods.

About SMaRC research group

SMaRC (Swedish Maritime Robotics Centre) is a cross-disciplinary industrial research centre with focus on the development of autonomous intelligent underwater systems. The project includes several research disciplines such as autonomy, endurance, perception and communication.

The research performed by us is focused on the development of sensors for detection of organic pollutants in low concentrations with the overall aim to develop machine learning and sensing for underwater applications.