Electrical properties sensors

The electrical SHM of composites refies on the material itself to act as the sensor. Carbon fibers are electrically conductive the epoxy resin is an insulator. The CFRP composite is somehow conductive because the densely packed carbon fibers may touch each other. As damage (e.g., cracks and delamination) takes place in the composite, the electric conductivity is expected to change. The glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite is a nonconductive insulator with certain dielectric properties. Damage in GFRP composites creates microcracks and even 

These inmitive concepts stand at the foundation of the electrical SHM methods for composite materials. This approach is deemed self-sensing because it relies entirely on measuring a material property (i.e., electrical characteristic) and does not require an additional transduction sensor the only instrumentation that needs to be installed on the composite structure consists of the electrodes. In the case of composite transport aircraft, the conductive screen skins currently used to mitigate lightning strike could potentially also serve as the measuring electrodes. Electrical SHM methods range from the simple measurement of the electrical resistance measurements up to more sophisticated methods such as electrical potential mapping, dielectric measurement, and electrochemical impedance. 

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Electrical properties sensors resistance, impedance, dielectric, etc. 

Another important class of titanates that can be produced by hydrothermal synthesis processes are those in the lead zirconate—lead titanate (PZT) family. These piezoelectric materials are widely used in manufacture of ultrasonic transducers, sensors, and minia ture actuators. The electrical properties of these materials are derived from the formation of a homogeneous soHd solution of the oxide end members. The process consists of preparing a coprecipitated titanium—zirconium hydroxide gel. The gel reacts with lead oxide in water to form crystalline PZT particles having an average size of about 1 ]lni (Eig. 3b). A process has been developed at BatteUe (Columbus, Ohio) to the pilot-scale level (5-kg/h). 

Chemical and Biochemical Sensors. The sensitivity of the electrical properties of conductive polymers to chemical stimuli suggests they may prove useful in a number of sensing applications. 

Electrochemical sensors play a crucial role in environmental and industrial monitoring, as well as in medical and clinical analysis. The common feature of all electroanalytical sensors is that they rely on the detection of an electrical property (i.e., potential, resistance, current) so that they are normally classified according to the mode of measurement (i.e., potentiometric, conductometric, amperometric). A number of surveys have been published on this immense field. The reader may find the major part of the older and recent bibliography in the comprehensive reviews of Bakker et al. [109-111]. Pejcic and De Marco have presented an interesting survey... 

Of all existing methods to monitor electrical properties while using semiconductor sensors, only two [5] have become widely implemented both in experimental practice and in industrial conditions. These are kinetic method, i.e. measurement of various electrical parameters under kinetic conditions, and stationary (equilibrium) method based on the measurement of steady-state parameters (conductivity, work function. Hall s electromotive force, etc.). 

To dissociate molecules in an adsorbed layer of oxide, a spillover (photospillover) phenomenon can be used with prior activation of the surface of zinc oxide by particles (clusters) of Pt, Pd, Ni, etc. In the course of adsorption of molecular gases (especially H2, O2) or more complex molecules these particles emit (generate) active particles on the surface of substrate [12], which are capable, as we have already noted, to affect considerably the impurity conductivity even at minor concentrations. Thus, the semiconductor oxide activated by cluster particles of transition metals plays a double role of both activator and analyzer (sensor). The latter conclusion is proved by a large number of papers discussed in detail in review [13]. The papers cited maintain that the particles formed during the process of activation are fairly active as to their influence on the electrical properties of sensors made of semiconductor oxides in the form of thin sintered films. 

Atoms of metals are more interesting tiian hydrogen atoms, because they can form not only dimers Ag2, but also particles with larger number of atoms. What are the electric properties of these particles on surfaces of solids The answer to this question can be most easily obtained by using a semiconductor sensor which plays simultaneously the role of a sorbent target and is used as a detector of silver adatoms. The initial concentration of silver adatoms must be sufficiently small, so that growth of multiatomic aggregates of silver particles (clusters) could be traced by variation of an electric conductivity in time (after atomic beam was terminated), provided the assumption of small electric activity of clusters on a semiconductor surface [42] compared to that of atomic particles is true. 

Grain boundaries have a significant effect upon the electrical properties of a polycrystalline solid, used to good effect in a number of devices, described below. In insulating materials, grain boundaries act so as to change the capacitance of the ceramic. This effect is often sensitive to water vapor or other gaseous components in the air because they can alter the capacitance when they are absorbed onto the ceramic. Measurement of the capacitance allows such materials to be used as a humidity or gas sensor. 

A sensor is a kind of translator. It receives specific information about the system under investigation and transmits this information in the form of an electrical signal. Sensors are specific to a given property of the system under investigation. Some sensors are sensitive to temperature, others are sensitive to light, still others to pH, pressure, etc. 

The sensor head is lowered into a monitoring well. Upon contact with any fluid, the float ball is raised and a continuous tone emitted from an audible alarm. When the sensor head contacts the interface between LNAPL and groundwater, the change in conductive properties is detected by the electrical conductivity sensor and a beeping tone is emitted. The distances along the tape at which the two changes in the audible alarm occur are recorded as referenced from a presurveyed point on the lip of the monitoring well. The resultant distance is equivalent to the apparent thickness of the LNAPL in the well. 

Chapter 12, Explosive Vapor Detection Using Microcantilever Sensors, is representative of a general class of sensors Surface Effect Microsensors that use the change in some mechanical or electrical property of an ultra-small structure to sense and identify a wide variety of molecules. 

Many oxygen ion conducting electrolytes are available for sensor applications. These include mainly solid solutions of Zr02, HFO, Th02, or CeO. Of these, stabilized zirconia has been found to have the best combination of cost, mechanical, chemical, and electrical properties for this type of application and has been the most widely used. Various stabilizers are available and have a strong effect on the properties obtained, particularly the electrical conductivity. 

The fabrication process of vanadium oxide (VO2) has also been studied using RBS/C. Since optieal and electrical properties of VO2 are dramatically changed at 68°C due to phase transition, VO2 is regarded as one of the candidates for thermally activated electronic or optical switching devices for optieal fibers or sensors. To obtain the desired properties, the development of the fabrication process for very thin films, without crystalline defects on various substrates, is required. Single-crystalline VO2 thin films on (0001) plane of a sapphire substrate have been synthesized by a laser ablation method. The quality of VO2 was examined by X-ray diffraction and RBS/C method. The eleetrieal resistanee and the optical transmittance of the VO2 film were measured under inereasing and deereasing temperatures. At a temperature of 68 °C, an abrupt transition of resistanee from metal to... 

Hinrichs and Thuen [28] used ultrasonic attenuation to determine the proper time for pressure application during an otherwise traditional pre-established cure cycle. Because dielectric is an electrical property, it is influenced by moisture content and temperature as well as viscosity, so it may vary quantitatively. Ultrasonic measurements are also affected by other parameters (i.e., void content), but they are a mechanical measurement rather than an electric one. The ultrasonic sensors used by Hinrichs unfortunately were less reliable than the dielectric sensors. 

Passive types of leak detection such as observation wells and collection sumps where product is collected and analyzed directly should work effectively with methanol. Active leak detection systems that rely on thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity sensors will not work with methanol because its properties are so different from gasoline. Another type of active leak detection system that will work with methanol or any other type of fuel relies on changes in impedance in a sensor wire as it becomes wetted with the fuel [4.5]. These leak detection systems also have the advantage that they can pinpoint the location of the leak along the length of the sensor wire. 

G.B. Sigal, D.G. Hafeman, J.W. Parce and H.M. Mcconnell, Electrical-properties of phospholipid-bilayer membranes measured with a light addressable potentiometric sensor, ACS Symp. Ser., 403 (1989) 46-64. J.D. Olson, P.R. Panfili, R. Armenta, M.B. Femmel, H. Merrick, J. Gumperz, M. Goltz and R.F. Zuk, A silicon sensor-based filtration immunoassay using biotin-mediated capture, J. Immunol. Methods, 134(1) (1990) 71-79. 

Carbon nanotubes, especially SWNTs, with their fascinating electrical properties, dimensional proximity to biomacromolecules (e.g., DNA of 1 nm in size), and high sensitivity to surrounding environments, are ideal components in biosensors not only as electrodes for signal transmission but also as detectors for sensing biomolecules and biospecies. In terms of configuration and detection mechanism, biosensors based on carbon nanotubes may be divided into two categories electrochemical sensors and field effect transistor (FET) sensors. Since a number of recent reviews on the former have been published,6,62,63 our focus here is mostly on FET sensors. 

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