The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 29, 2001
Filed:
Oct. 06, 1999
Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc., Ames, IA (US);
Abstract
An acoustic wave based-chemical sensor containing a crystal substrate and a coating of small particulate matter is disclosed. The small particulate matter can be graphite particles. Transducers are connected to the crystal substrate to generate an alternating potential across the crystal substrate, which in turn causes the crystal to resonate due to the converse piezoelectric effect. The coating absorbs the analyte, thus changing the mass of the sensor, and accordingly changing its resonant frequency. The transducers detect this change in resonant frequency to indicate that the analyte is present. The use of small particulate matter results in a coating having a large surface area which facilitates mass uptake of large amounts of VOCs, improved acoustic properties even with relatively thick coatings, and a high operational temperature range.