Two Illinois professors (MechSE professor William King and Rashid Bashir, Bliss Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as well as the Department of Bioengineering) are part of an elite team of award-winning biochemists, electrochemists, materials scientists and microsystems experts that will help Advanced Diamond Technologies, Inc. (ADT) develop miniature diamond-based sensors for the real-time detection of water-based chemical and biological agents. The company has been awarded a $4.8 million grant from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to develop the devices from its patented nanostructured diamond.
Smooth, electrically conducting diamond film has many potential advantages for biosensors. It does not degrade in water like other materials. It forms stable and exceptionally strong bonds with biomolecules in water, which makes it extremely sensitive in detecting water-borne pathogens, bacterial agents and toxins such as E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella. Plus, it can be made very small with the help of MEMS (micro-electrical-mechanical-systems) technology.
That will allow the research team to develop quick, sensitive, reusable, portable and relatively inexpensive sensors that first responders and military personnel can carry with them in a wallet or as a piece of jewelry that would allow them to determine if water is safe to drink. Professors King and Bashir will design and characterize the actual diamond MEMS structures, while Professor Robert J. Hamers, Irving Shain Professor of Chemistry and Chemistry Department Chair at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will spearhead the project's development of linker chemistry and biomolecular capture agents that will be used to selectively detect various types of bacteria.