# US 10,883,938 B2 · Method of chemical sensing using a multi-dimensional cross-reactive array

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 10,883,938 B2
- Document ID: US10883938B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/038,699
- Filed: 2018-07-18
- Published: 2019-01-31
- Granted: 2021-01-05
- Earliest claimed: 2016-02-23
- Assignees: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
- Applicants: United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Army
- Inventors: Vincent P. Schnee
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10883938B2

## CPC

- G01N 21/643: {non-biological material}
- G01N 21/77: by observing the effect on a chemical indicator
- G01N 33/0031: {comprising two or more sensors, e.g. a sensor array}
- B82Y 15/00: Nanotechnology for interacting, sensing or actuating, e.g. quantum dots as markers in protein assays or molecular motors
- G01N 33/0057: {Warfare agents or explosives}
- G01N 2021/752: {Devices comprising reaction zones}
- G01N 2021/7763: {Sample through flow}
- G01N 2021/7786: {Fluorescence}
- G01N 2021/7793: {Sensor comprising plural indicators}
- G01N 2201/062: LED's
- G01N 2201/12: Circuits of general importance; Signal processing
- Y10S 977/954: Of radiant energy
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)
- B82Y: SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
- Y10S: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS

## Abstract

The discrimination ability of a chemical sensing cross-reactive arrays is enhanced by constructing sensing elements in two dimensions, first in the x-y plane of the substrate, second in the z dimension so that the sensors are vertically stacked on top of one another. Stacking sensing elements on top of one another adds to the discrimination ability by enabling the characteristic measurement of how fast target chemicals are passing through the stack of sensors. The new invention also allows the ability to discriminate components in a sample mixture by separating them using their innate difference in diffusional rates. Multi-sensor response patterns at each z level of sensors and time delay information from the sample passing from one level to the next are used to generate the response vector. The response vector is used to identify individual component samples and components in a mixture sample.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of chemical sensing using a multi-dimensional cross-reactive array, the method comprising the steps of:
directing a flow path of a carrier medium carrying a chemical sample through an enclosure having open ends such that said carrier medium carries said chemical sample from one open end to another open end of the enclosure;
disposing along the directed flow path a multi-dimensional cross-reactive array within the enclosure, said multi-dimensional cross-reactive array comprising:
a flat sensor substrate having an upper surface of stack areas, and
stacks of fluorescent chemical sensing polymer layers disposed on the upper surface of the sensor substrate, wherein the fluorescent chemical sensing polymer layers of a given stack are sequentially stacked such that each stack of fluorescent chemical sensing polymer layers rises from a respective stack area as a unique sequence of fluorescent chemical sensing polymer layers perpendicular to the surface of the flat sensor substrate, each stack resulting in a uniquely sequenced stack of fluorescent chemical sensing polymer layers having a respectively exposed upper sensor layer, each fluorescent chemical sensing polymer layer being respectively chosen from a group of fluorescent chemical sensing polymers consisting of Poly[2,5-bisoctyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene], Poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole), and Poly[(9,9-dihexylfluoren-2,7-diyl)-co-(anthracen-9,10-diyl)], each fluorescent chemical sensing polymer in the group characterized by a unique fluorescent emission spectrum having a distinct emission peak;
a light source focused onto the multi-dimensional cross-reactive array to cause the fluorescent chemical sensing polymer layers to emit a respective fluorescence;
passing via an optical system of a fiber optic guide per stack the emissions of a stack of fluorescent chemical sensing polymer layers to a respective spectrometer to separately measure spectrums per stack; and
outputting by each spectrometer the respectively measured spectrums as spectrometer outputs for a computing device to collectively process select wavelength bands monitored from the spectrometer outputs and characterize fluorescent polymers in the presence of the chemical sample.