Developing a credit-card-sized gas chromatography platform
that can analyze volatile compounds within seconds is the next step for
Virginia Tech College of Engineering researcher Masoud Agah, who has
received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career
Development Program (CAREER) Award to support his research.
Agah, an assistant professor in the Bradley Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering and an affiliate member of the
Department of Mechanical Engineering faculty, recently secured a
five-year CAREER grant worth $400,000. This is the NSF’s most
prestigious award for creative junior faculty who are considered to be
future leaders in their academic fields.
Gas chromatography is the primary technique used in a number
of scientific, medical, and industrial settings to separate and analyze
volatile compounds in gases, liquids, and solids.
Medical researchers, for example, can isolate volatile organic
compounds in breath samples for early diagnosis or evaluation of
certain metabolic conditions and diseases. Acetone in a
patient’s breath can be a marker for diabetes, Agah said, and
scientists have identified a group of compounds that appear to be
markers for breast cancer.
Gas chromatography is used in the field of environmental
monitoring to identify certain air pollutants and drinking water and
groundwater contaminants. Homeland security and military personnel can
rely on the technique to test air samples for chemical warfare agents,
such as sarin and mustard gases. The technique also is widely used in
food processing, the petrochemical industry, and a number of other
fields.
Currently, gas chromatography systems consist of a gas tank,
sample injector, separation column, and gas detector. Samples to be
analyzed are vaporized and injected into the column, where compounds
are separated and then passed over the detector. Conventional systems
tend to be large, fragile, and relatively expensive table-top
instruments.
Agah, who established the Microelectromechanical
Systems (MEMS) Laboratory at Virginia Tech shortly
after joining the university in 2005, is attempting to develop a gas
chromatographic architecture that will fit on a platform the size of a
credit card and will separate and analyze a complex range of compounds
in only a few seconds.
To create this new architecture, which he has named
“GC Matrix,” Agah is employing MEMS technology. In
his laboratory, he is developing gas chromatographic columns with
heaters, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, and thermal
conductivity detectors that can fit on micro-chips. Agah already has
developed columns that can separate a limited number of volatile
compounds and chemical warfare agent simulants in less than 10 seconds.
In addition to significantly improving the speed, portability,
and performance, Agah’s GC Matrix will consume far less power
than conventional instruments.
Once perfected, the GC Matrix could be used in a number of
industrial and scientific applications. The apparatus also could be
effective in saving lives during crises. Emergency workers, for
instance, could easily carry GC Matrix instruments into areas
devastated by floods to test water for toxic chemicals, and soldiers on
the battlefield could test the air within seconds for signs of chemical
warfare agents.
Every CAREER award project includes an educational component.
Agah will develop a new university laboratory course on MEMS
technology. He also is working with Virginia Tech’s National
Society of Black Engineers and the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers’ Teacher in Service Program to
establish the High-School Microsystems Engineering Program.
Posted 19th February 2008
