Abstract: Various embodiments of a method and apparatus for sensing hydrogen produced continually by a reaction between aluminum and water are disclosed. The hydrogen sensor includes a proton-carrying electrolyte, an RE (reference electrode) lining a first side of the proton-carrying electrolyte, an SE (sensor electrode) lining a second side of the proton-carrying electrolyte, and a voltage-measuring device electrically connected to the RE and the SE to measure a voltage drop across the electrolyte. The proton-conducting electrolyte is capable of maintaining a gradient of concentration of protons between the SE and the RE at 250° C. In some embodiments, the proton-carrying electrolyte is a barium-zirconate-cerate material doped with yttrium (BCZY). In some embodiments, the RE and the SE are made from platinum. In some embodiments, the electrolyte has a conical shape and is placed on one end of a ceramic vessel with the SE on the exterior of the hydrogen center.

Abstract: A stable substrate is disclosed comprising one more nanopores coated with an adhesion layer of a stabilizing compound, covalently bound to the nanopore interior via at least one bonding site, and having at least one coupling site. The substrate further comprises a functional enhancement layer of coupling partner molecules bound to the adhesion layer with a bond between the stabilizing compound's coupling site and the coupling partner's coupling bonding site.

Abstract: The present invention provides a simple method for ablating a protective thin film on a bulk surface and roughening the underlying bulk. In an embodiment, silicon nitride thin films, which are useful as etch-stop masks in micro- and nano-fabrication, is removed from a silicon wafer's surface using a hand-held “flameless” Tesla-coil lighter. Vias created by a spatially localized electron beam from the lighter allow a practitioner to perform micro- and nano-fabrication without the conventional steps of needing a photoresist and photolithography. Patterning could be achieved with a hard mask or rastering of the spatially confined discharge, offering—with low barriers to rapid use—particular capabilities that might otherwise be out of reach to researchers without access to conventional, instrumentation-intensive micro- and nano-fabrication workflows.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides a system including an insulator-based dielectrophoresis device. The insulator-based dielectrophoresis device includes a fluid flow channel having at least one fluid inlet and at least one fluid outlet. The fluid flow channel includes at least one insulating flow structure extending from a wall to define a constriction in the fluid flow channel. The system includes a detection chamber placed in fluid communication with the fluid flow channel by an opening in the wall of the fluid flow channel, where the opening is configured downstream of the at least one insulation flow structure. The detection chamber includes an electrochemical sensor configured to constrict the flow of fluid entering the detection chamber through a pore, where the pore is sized to produce a detectable signal upon passage of an analyte through the pore. The system may process the detectable signal to output a metric indicative of the identity or physiochemical property of the analyte.

Abstract: The present invention provides a simple method for ablating a protective thin film on a bulk surface and roughening the underlying bulk. In an embodiment, silicon nitride thin films, which are useful as etch-stop masks in micro- and nano-fabrication, is removed from a silicon wafer's surface using a hand-held “flameless” Tesla-coil lighter. Vias created by a spatially localized electron beam from the lighter allow a practitioner to perform micro- and nano-fabrication without the conventional steps of needing a photoresist and photolithography. Patterning could be achieved with a hard mask or rastering of the spatially confined discharge, offering—with low barriers to rapid use—particular capabilities that might otherwise be out of reach to researchers without access to conventional, instrumentation-intensive micro- and nano-fabrication workflows.