Sensing system based on a fluorophore array
US10371688B2 · kind B2 · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 10, 2017 |
| Grant date | Aug 6, 2019 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 10, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2021/6432
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A sensing system for explosives is provided. The sensor is based on a layered structure of approximately a monolayer of a fluorophore deposited onto a few nm of a transparent polymer, supported by a substrate. The fluorophores can be xanthene laser dyes, which have high quantum yields, and the polymers can be commodity materials polymethylmethacrylate and polyvinylidene difluoride. The different fluorophore/polymer combinations give different emission responses to analytes, including both signal quenching and enhancement. The pattern of responses can be used to identify the analyte. The common explosives TNT, PETN, RDX, HMX, and TATP as gas phase species can all be uniquely identified at room temperature using only the natural vapor pressure of the explosive to deliver sample to the sensor.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.