Publications

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The synthesis of two new polyphenylene vinylene (PPV) precursor polymers which can be thermally induced to eliminate pentanol is presented. Pentanol has recently been discovered to be a very useful lubricant in MicroElectroMechanical Systems. The utilization of the elimination reaction of precursor polymers to PPV as a small molecule delivery platform has, to the best of our knowledge, not been previously reported. The elimination reactions were examined using thermal gravimetric analysis, gas chromatography, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Using PPV precursors allows for (1) a high loading of lubricant (one molecule per monomeric unit), (2) a platform that requires relatively high temperatures (>145 °C) to eliminate the lubricant, and (3) a non-volatile, mechanically and chemically stable by-product of the elimination reaction (PPV). The "on-demand" delivery of a vapor-phase lubricant to MicroElectoMechanical Systems (MEMS) will allow for scheduled or as-needed lubrication of the moving components, improving the performance, reliability, and lifespan of the devices. A delivery system utilizing a newly designed microhotplate along with two new precursor poly(p-phenylene vinylene) polymers that thermally eliminate a pentanol lubricant is described. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

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This report summarizes work to date on a new collaboration between Sandia National Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to utilize nanoelectromechanical resonators designed at Caltech as platforms to measure the mechanical properties of polymeric materials at length scales on the order of 10-50 nm. Caltech has succeeded in reproducibly building cantilever resonators having major dimensions on the order of 2-5 microns. These devices are fabricated in pairs, with free ends separated by reproducible gaps having dimensions on the order of 10-50 nm. By controlled placement of materials that bridge the very small gap between resonators, the mechanical devices become coupled through the test material, and the transmission of energy between the devices can be monitored. This should allow for measurements of viscoelastic properties of polymeric materials at high frequency over short distances. Our work to date has been directed toward establishing this measurement capability at Sandia.

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Networked systems of low-cost, small, integrable chemical sensors will enable monitoring of Nonproliferation and Materials Control targets and chemical weapons threats. Sandia-designed prototype chemical sensor systems are undergoing extended field testing supported by DOE and other government agencies. A required surety component will be verification of microanalytical system performance, which can be achieved by providing a programmable source of chemical signature(s) for autonomous calibration of analytical systems. In addition, such a controlled chemical source could be used to dispense microaliquots of derivatization reagents, extending the analysis capability of chemical sensors to a wider range of targets. We have developed a microfabricated system for controlled release of selected compounds (calibrants) into the analytical stream of microsensor systems. To minimize pumping and valve requirements of microfluidic systems, and to avoid degradation issues associated with storage of dilute solutions, we have utilized thermally labile organic salts as solid-phase reservoir materials. Reproducible deposition of tetrapropyl ammonium hydroxide onto arrays of microfabricated heating elements can provide a pair of calibration marker compounds (one fast and one slow-eluting compound) for GC analyses. The use of this microaliquot gas source array for hydrogen generation is currently under further development. The goal of the latter effort will be to provide a source of high-pressure, low viscosity GC carrier gas for Sandia's next-generation microfabricated gas-phase chemical analysis systems.

Chemical microsensors rely on partitioning of airborne chemicals into films to collect and measure trace quantities of hazardous vapors. Polymer sensor coatings used today are typically slow to respond and difficult to apply reproducibly. The objective of this project was to produce a durable sensor coating material based on graphitic nanoporous-carbon (NPC), a new material first studied at Sandia, for collection and detection of volatile organic compounds (VOC), toxic industrial chemicals (TIC), chemical warfare agents (CWA) and nuclear processing precursors (NPP). Preliminary studies using NPC films on exploratory surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) devices and as a {micro}ChemLab membrane preconcentrator suggested that NPC may outperform existing, irreproducible coatings for SAW sensor and {micro}ChemLab preconcentrator applications. Success of this project will provide a strategic advantage to the development of a robust, manufacturable, highly-sensitive chemical microsensor for public health, industrial, and national security needs. We use pulsed-laser deposition to grow NPC films at room-temperature with negligible residual stress, and hence, can be deposited onto nearly any substrate material to any thickness. Controlled deposition yields reproducible NPC density, morphology, and porosity, without any discernable variation in surface chemistry. NPC coatings > 20 {micro}m thick with density < 5% that of graphite have been demonstrated. NPC can be 'doped' with nearly any metal during growth to provide further enhancements in analyte detection and selectivity. Optimized NPC-coated SAW devices were compared directly to commonly-used polymer coated SAWs for sensitivity to a variety of VOC, TIC, CWA and NPP. In every analyte, NPC outperforms each polymer coating by multiple orders-of-magnitude in detection sensitivity, with improvements ranging from 103 to 108 times greater detection sensitivity! NPC-coated SAW sensors appear capable of detecting most analytes tested to concentrations below parts-per-billion. In addition, the graphitic nature of NPC enables thermal stability > 600 C, several hundred degrees higher than the polymers. This superior thermal stability will enable higher-Temperature preconcentrator operation, as well as greatly prolonged device reliability, since polymers tend to degrade with time and repeated thermal cycling.

Many data analysis algorithms that are currently employed in SAW sensors lack the ability to easily maintain calibration models in the presence of unmodeled interferents or sensor drift. The classical least squares/partial least squares (CLS/PLS) hybrid algorithm is tested in this study for its ability to update calibration models for unmodeled interferents and sensor drift with information from only a single recalibration standard. Use of the CLS/PLS hybrid algorithm for calibration and calibration maintenance of surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices was investigated for synthetic mixtures of iso-octane-methanol-water and with synthetic mixtures of nerve agent analogs, di-iso-propyl methyl phosphonate (DIMP)-kerosene-water along with a true ternary mixture of dimethyl methyl phosphonate (DMMP)-kerosene-water. Calibration statistics using the hybrid algorithm were found to be as good as those obtained from a standard partial least squares (PLS) analysis. In prediction, the hybrid algorithm models were found to perform equivalently to PLS models in the absence of unmodeled interferents or sensor drift, with an accuracy of 5-10% of the reference values and a high degree of precision. In the case of prediction in the presence of unmodeled interferents and/or sensor drift, PLS models and prediction augmented CLS/PLS (PACLS/PLS) hybrid models were compared using a single standard sample to update each model for prediction. For the cases studied, PACLS/PLS hybrid models were comparable to or outperformed updated PLS models that used subset recalibration or piece-wise direct standardization.