Printed lab-on-a-chip sensors for environmental monitoring

Additive manufacturing techniques such as printed electronics are currently very popular due to the efficiencies and cost benefits they offer together with the added environmental benefits resulting from the minimisation of material wastage. The screen printing of sensors for example can greatly facilitate the production of low cost, robust, miniature sensors and in particular the production of sensor arrays suitable for a wide variety of application areas. This presentation focuses on the development of a variety of different screen printed sensor types, with particular attention being given to environmental sensor arrays. Examples will be given of sensor arrays that have been developed for subterranean and subaqueous deployment for measurement of multiple parameters such as pH, temperature, conductivity, oxygen concentration and redox potential.The same print technology can also be used to produce low cost, rugged electronic circuits that can be used with the sensor arrays to facilitate monitoring of the environment in remote locations, for example throughout a water catchment area in the monitoring of rivers, ditches, agricultural field run off etc. Examples will also be given where the sensors are buried in the ground to monitor the stability of earthworks such as railway embankments and cuttings.