Center for Nanomaterials and Sensor Development

The research focus of our Center is on the processing and characterization of advanced materials, such as Nanostructured Metal Oxides and Bio-composites for Selective Chemosensors, Electronic Noses, and Nanomedicine. The Center houses state-of-the-art facilities for the synthesis, structural analysis, and sensing property evaluation of ceramic oxides, polymers and their hybrids. An brief description of current research activities is given below:

Research Projects:

THEME I. Nanomaterials for Sensing

Nano-composite Oxides for Electronic Noses

This project involves the synthesis of novel nanocomposites using electrospinning and the development of nanoscale sensor array probes for gas and bio-metabolite detection. This is a diverse program with emphasis on the synthesis of metal oxide single crystal nanowires, the development of sensor arrays for medical applications. This effort is funded by a NSF NIRT (Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team) grant. This is one of the few projects that involve fundamental research on the physical and chemical behavior of materials at the nanoscale and at the same time enable the exploration of breakthrough technologies that have the potential to significantly benefit the human welfare.

Related references:

P. Gouma, "Electronic Olfaction and Taste Systems"- Invited contribution - McGraw Hill 2006 Yearbook of Science & Technology, McGraw Hill, NY, pp. 113-115, 2006.

P.I. Gouma, A. K. Prasad, and K.K. Iyer, "Selective Nanoprobes for 'Signaling Gases' ", Nanotechnology, 17, pp. S48-S53, 2006.

P. Gouma, "Nanostructured Oxide-based Selective Gas sensor Arrays for Chemical Monitoring and Medical Diagnostics in Isolated Environments", Habitation Journal, vol. 10 (2), pp. 99-104, 2005.

K.M. Sawicka, A.K. Prasad and P.I. Gouma, "Metal Oxide Nanowires for Use in Chemical Sensing Applications", Sensor Letters  (3), pp. 1-5, 2005.

P. Gouma and G. Sberveglieri, "Novel Materials and Applications of Electronic Noses and Tongues", MRS Bulletin, 29 (10), pp. 697-700, 2004.

Gas Sensitive Electrospun Polymer Hybrids

The responsive nature of polyaniline (PANI) to gaseous pollutants is highly dependant on the film composition and processing.  The processing parameters of polyaniline (PANI) dictate the desired morphology and overall structural stability of the deposited polymer for chemical sensor applications. Leucoemeraldine (LEB) is the reduced form of polyaniline (PANI) which has not until now been explored for sensing applications due to its insulating and environmentally unstable nature.   Hybrid systems of LEB-PANI have shown to aid in the stability of the material yielding an active matrix for selective gas sensing.  



Related References: K. Sawicka and P. I. Gouma, "Electrospun composite nanofibers for functional applications", J. Nanoparticle Research, 2005, in print.

A. Bishop and P. Gouma, "Leuco-emeraldine based polyaniline-poly-vinyl-pyrrolidone electrospun composites and bio-composutes: a preliminary study of sensing behavior", Rev. Adv. Mater. Sci, 10 pp. 34-40, 2005.




THEME II. Nanomedicine

Electrospinning of Artificial Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering

Bio-mimicking approaches are being explored in this work to manufacture multilayered, multifunctional configurations of active nanomaterials (active fabrics)  in a hierarchical process, while embedding nano-actuators and other adaptive nanostructures in an effort to converge nanotechnology with modern biology. The proposed hierarchical structures are electrospun mats of natural polymers and nano-composites structured on multiple scales to be used as tissue repair fabrics/scaffolds. This is an integrated effort together with Dr. M. Frame's lab that specializes in the growth of vascular networks in vivo .

Figure 1:  Scanning Electron Micrograph of the cross-sectional view of UBM morphology (Gouma. 2004).


Related references:

D. Han and P. I. Gouma, "Electrospun Bio-Scaffolds that Mimic the Topology of Extracellular Matrix", Nanomedicine , 2, pp. 37-41, 2006.

D. Han, S. Goldgraben, M. D. Frame and P.I. Gouma, "A novel nanofiber scaffold by electrospinning and its utility in microvascular tissue engineering", Proc. Mat. Res. Soc. Symp.  "Nanoscale Materials Science in Biology and Medicine", eds. CT Laurencin, EA Botchwey, Vol. 845, Warrendale, Pa, p. AA5.48, 2005.

Transport Properties of Porous Bio-composite Membranes

Encapsulation of biological molecules in nanostructured materials is an innovative practice finding applications in drug delivery systems, tissue engineering devices, fuel cells, and biosensors. The encapsulation matrices may be glasses, crystalline oxides, polymers, as films, beads, spheres, non-woven fibrous membranes or other configurations. The fundamental materials design requirement is the efficient entrapment of biomolecules into the pores of these structures along with the prevention of denaturing and decomposition processes. At the same time, efficient transport of small molecules of gas or liquid substances in and out of these biocomposites should be enabled. It is the transport characteristics and release kinetics of analyte and/or receptor molecules in biocomposite sensors that this work is focused on.

Figure 1: Transmission Electron micrographs showing the encapsulation of biomolecule
aggregates into the large pores of the sol-gel and the interconnected network of the MoO 3
crystals (Gouma et al, 2004).

Related References:

K. M. Sawicka, P. Gouma, and S. Simon, "Electrospun Bio-composite Nanofibers for Urea Biosensing", Sensors Act. B , 108 (1-2), pp. 585-588, 2005

P. Gouma, S. Simon, P. Jha, and K.M. Sawicka, "Bio-composite Oxides for Resistive Detection of Pathogens", Chemical Sensors , 20, suppl. B, pp. 72-73, 2004.

Novel Biological Nanosensors Detecting Blood Coagulation (Thrombosis)

The major goal of the project is to employ nanoscale materials science to enhance the study of bio-systems such as blood coagulation proteins. This project is primarily driven by the need for new technology that will detect proteins in small concentrations. The major goal of this work is to develop techniques to detect and analyze biological proteins using nanofabricated systems. The potential to improve human health lies in the application of such technology to detect disorders of coagulation. This work is being carried out in collaboration with Dr. P. Perrotta and it is funded by EPA.