Sensors for water quality monitoring
Recently, our group has been active in several projects where chemical sensors are used to monitor water quality. One type of sensor, popularly known as an electronic tongue has proven to be very suitable to give early warning of chemical anomalies in drinking water. Right now, the potential to build a sensor network that monitors the entire distribution network for drinking water in a larger city is investigated. The hope is to help drinking water distributors with early warning detection, to locate and fix the errors and to ensure that the citizens can avoid being afflicted by stomach illness. Together with a number of water utilities we also investigate an electronic nose to alarm at elevated petroleum levels in the raw water that the waterworks use to produce drinking water. Elevated levels can cause major problems in the water plant and in the distribution network.
Other sensor system projects
Prof. Fredrik Winquist has previously conducted several projects where sensors and sensor systems have been applied, such as:
- BugIT – Sensor system for monitoring and identification of insect pests in agricultural fields. Financed by the Swedish Farmers Foundation for Agricultural Research.
- The electronic nose as a diagnostic tool for KOL and heart diseases, collaboration with the Health University at LiU. Financed by FOSS.
- Fast method for determination of cadmium in cereal products based on the electronic tongue. Financed by SLF.
Electrochemistry and biosensors
On a more basic level, the group also has studied how individual enzyme molecules interact with a gold surface, properties of various types of microelectrodes and the electron transport in bioelectrocatalytic systems and how these can be used for new types of biosensors. Much of this work has been carried out in collaboration with Prof. Anthony Turner.
Chemical Sensor Systems is a unit within the division of Sensors and Actuator Systems.
