Smart Sea Skin; Flexible Multi-sensing System to Probe Marine Organism-Surface Interactions
Abstract
The proposed DURIP project is to develop Smart Sea Skin ~ a flexible multi-sensingequipment system capable of simultaneously imaging marine organisms and quantitatively measuringmultiple parameters critical to marine organism-surface interactions.Understanding interactions between marine organisms and engineering surfaces is of criticalimportance to fundamental marine biology and practical design of antifouling coatings. However,existing methods mainly rely on microscopes to observe the interactions. Many physical and chemicalparameters have been largely ignored. We propose to develop a flexible multi-sensing system capableof quantitatively measuring multiple parameters critical to marine organism-surface interactions,including electrical impedance, temperature, pressure (applied by foulants such as barnacles) and pH;and simultaneously imaging the organisms at different stages of interactions. The Smart Sea Skinconsists of a flexible circuit that integrates multiple types of sensors, a multi-channel data acquisitionsystem, and a two-photon microscope. Marine foulants such as biofilms, algae, and barnacles will becultured on the flexible circuit with multiple physiological parameters on the interface being measuredover time. A two-photon optical microscope capable of extended imaging depth will be used to imagethe foulants and interface. The results obtained from the flexible sensors and microscope will beanalyzed together to provide the first set of quantitative correlations for different parameters atdifferent stages of marine organism-surface interactions.The Smart Sea Skin will greatly enhance the quality of the PI~s ONR Young InvestigatorProgram project, in which we are developing novel nanocomposite coatings to achieve extraordinaryantifouling properties. The Smart Sea Skin will provide a new and quantitative understanding on thefouling process on nanocomposite coatings, which will greatly facilitate design and optimization ofnew coatings. The proposed DURIP project will also establish new capabilities for research in areas ofsignificant DoD interest, including marine biology, smart coatings, stretchable electronics, sensors androbotics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 23, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141613181
Entities
People
- Xuanhe Zhao
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy