Microconcentrator

A microfabricated device that concentrates pollutants, enabling them to be detected in very low concentrations, has been patented by Somenath Mitra, professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (Newark; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-551). The so-called microconcentrator operates like a bicycle pump, explains Mitra. The chip has a polymer that accumulates the pollutant as a pump fills with air. Then, a tiny heater desorbs the pollutant (if present) and directs it to a sensor head. Mitra believes the technology will enable inexpensive detectors that can detect parts-per million (or billion) of benzene, for example.