Development of an In-Situ Microsensor for the Measurements of Chromium and Uranium in Groundwater at DOE Sites - Final Report

The goal of this program is to develop, optimize and deploy a silicon-based micromachined stripping analyzer for field monitoring trace levels of chromium and uranium. Such system will integrate the sample-handling steps and necessary chemical reactions (using a flow-injection operation) with the actual adsorptive stripping measurement on a small planar chip. Besides the drastic reduction in the size of the analytical system, such miniaturization should lead to increased speed, minimal reagent consumption and disposal, higher sensitivity and improved precision, and would thus revolutionize the way by which toxic metals are being monitored. The new electrochemical devices should have an enormous impact upon pollution control and prevention, as they should lead to a substantially more effective and economic monitoring of priority metal pollutants. The project combined fundamental and practical aspects of electroanalysis and microsystems to meet the monitoring and sensing needs of DOE sites.