Apr 20th, 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Title
Field Portable Sensor for Direct Detection of Mercury in Aqueous Media and in Crude Oil
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Dale Russell
Information
Field portable sensors are of increasing interest for a number of applications. We report an electrochemical sensor based on a semi conductive polymer derivatized to have selective binding sites for mercury. Covalent attachment of 1, 4, 10-trioxa-7, 13-diaza-cyclopentadecane, a ligand with high affinity for mercury, promotes coordination of mercury on the sensor surface thus preconcentrating it prior to detection by its redox signature. This sensor gives real time mercury concentrations with low detection limits and high selectivity. A detection limit of 10 parts per trillion with a dynamic range of four orders of magnitude has been demonstrated for aqueous mercury using this method. Preliminary results for direct detection of mercury in crude oil and in gas phase emissions will be reported.