Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID NJ_2024_SABUJ-ZHAO

Monitoring of Harmful Algal Blooms by 2D MoS2-Based Field-Effect Transistor Sensors

Institute: New Jersey
Year Established: 2024 Start Date: 2024-09-01 End Date: 2025-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $6,250 Total Non-Federal Funds: $6,250

Principal Investigators: Md Mohidul Alam Sabuj, Mengqiang Zhao

Project Summary: Harmful algal blooms (HAB) are global water environment problem and its large area outbreak seriously affect the environment, ecosystems and human health. Geosmin (GSM) and 2-methylisoborneol (MIB) are the major odor compounds produced by HAB and are detectable at extremely low concentrations (ca. 5 ppt) by the human sense of smell. Monitoring of these target molecules can be an effective way to prevent overgrowth of HAB. Recently, sensors based on the field-effect transistor (FET) geometry are attracting much attention due to their small scale, high sensitivity, rapid detection, label free, portability, and the possibility of on-chip integration. The goal of this proposed project is to develop 2D MoS2-based FET sensors for detection of GSM and MIB, towards the monitoring of HAB. A hexagonal boron nitride film-assisted method will be used to functionalize 2D MoS2 by human olfactory receptors (hORs) 51S1 and 3A4 as bioprobe to achieve the selective detection of GSM and MIB. The proposed research advances the sensing technology to measure GSM and MIB in water, which could efficiently monitor and prevent HAB. To evaluate sensing properties of the bioelectronic nose, the real samples from river water containing GSM and MIB were prepared and monitored by bioelectronics nose to measure its sensitivity and selectivity. The small-scale FET sensors provide high capability for integration into light weight, portable detection devices with affordable cost, benefiting the future commercialization.