Sensors for water safety and security

Identification and prioritization of contaminants arising from occasional release or intentional discharge in unsecured water supplies are of paramount importance to assess national and international capacities to be able to respond, sense/detect, isolate, and mitigate safety and security risk vectors in a timely manner. Using advanced and nanoscale materials, a series of novel point and stand-off sensors/detectors for continuous and in-situ monitoring of inorganic, organic, and microbiological pollutants are described. The study is concurrent to our existing efforts to develop remediation strategies for region specific contaminants, defining water quality, modeling of process function water system design, and enhancing water resiliency. New sensing approaches based on interaction of a semiconductor surface with emitting electrons and metal-complexes-based chiroptical switches are also described.