Todatethedevelopment ofinsituchemical and biological sensors hasfocused on theproduction ofmacro instruments forsingle point deployment. Withtheexception of oxygen sensors(1), (2)andbiological sensors basedonfluorometry (3)(that arenowcommercially available) chemical andbiological sensors arenotabletomakerepeated synoptic measurements atfiner temporal andspatial scales. Thisisatoddswiththe patchiness andtemporal variability observed inbiogeochemical processes (4). Thispaperdescribes theearly stages ofdevelop- mentofminiature andmassproducible chemical andbiological sensors using MicroSystemTechnology. Itishopedthatthese devices willbesuitable formassdeployment andwilldeliver repeated synoptic datathatwillallowgreater understanding andimproved modelling ofbiogeochemical processes. Initially theproduction oftwodevices hasbeentargeted: 1)A miniature cytometer tocountandspeciate phytoplankton; and2)A lab- on-a-chip analyser using wetchemistry andoptical detection. Theproduction oftheanalysis chipforthecytometer anda micropump suitable forthelab-on-a-chip analyser arepresented here. Preliminary investigations ofbiofouling arealsodiscussed.
[1]
Sallie W. Chisholm,et al.
A novel free-living prochlorophyte abundant in the oceanic euphotic zone
,
1988,
Nature.
[2]
A. Manz,et al.
Micro total analysis systems. 2. Analytical standard operations and applications.
,
2002,
Analytical chemistry.
[3]
H. Claustre,et al.
Smallest eukaryotic organism
,
1994,
Nature.
[4]
A. Manz,et al.
Miniaturized total chemical analysis systems: A novel concept for chemical sensing
,
1990
.