Nanoengineered Hybrid Gas Sensors for Spacesuit Monitoring

N5 Sensors partnering with George Mason University (GMU) have demonstrated ultra-small, low-power gas sensors, ideally suited for integrated space suit monitoring. A single-chip carbon dioxide (CO2), oxygen (O2), and ammonia (NH3) sensors capable of operating at high-humidity conditions, different range of oxygen in the environment and with low-power consumption was demonstrated as a proof-of-concept in phase I and subsequent improvement along with system-integration was demonstrated in phase II. This was accomplished by N5rsquo;s patented innovation in photo-enabled sensing utilizing nanotechnology-based hybrid chemiresistor architecture. This unique architecture combines the selective adsorption properties of the nanophotocatalytic functional material, with the sensitive transduction capability of sub-micron semiconductor GaN structures. N5 will have a 2-fold objective for this sequential phase 2 STTR project to support the over arching goal of technology infusion to both NASA programs and commercial markets and applications ndash; 1) Improve the overall TLR of the project, and 2) Develop additional sensing capabilities suitable for both PLSS, space flight applications and also for ground based testing and other applications.