A Molecularly Imprinted Polymer-Graphene Sensor Antenna Hybrid for Ultra Sensitive Chemical Detection

A state-of-the-art gas sensor is developed to measure extremely small concentrations of a chemical vapor in the air in a range lower than 0.1 parts per billion. The sensor enables simultaneous measurement of a chemical (methyl salicylate) with a resonant electromagnetic structure and radiating the information back to a base station. The chemical sensor is composed of a layer of graphene (transduction layer) with a molecular imprinting polymer (MIP) layer (sensor) on top. This leads to a combination of the ultra high sensitivity of graphene with the exquisite selectivity of the molecular imprinting technique (MIT). The sensor is electrically embedded within a patch antenna. The simulation results using Ansoft high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS) are presented along with test data that show parts per trillion (ppt) detection levels.