GREENER aims to help water monitoring with new compact spectrometer technology that can measure extremely low concentrations of contaminants in water, including hormones that remains a major problem worldwide, posing a significant health risk to humans and animals. This marks the first time that an electrically pumped, quantum dot based single photon source, which operates at room temperature, has been applied to spectral sensing, taking advantage of the significant noise reduction provided by the spectrometer system including intelligent data processing and AI algorithms, thus enabling a low-noise detection method.
Development of new, environmentally friendly quantum dots (QDs) capable of emission at wavelengths up to 2 μm
Optimization of DNA origami based heterogeneous integration technology on wafer level for singulation of QDs
Development of electrically driven QD based single photon source and detector for noise-reduced absorption measurement
Development of a suitable AI-assisted data processing
Validation of the optical device for the absorption measurement of relevant hormone concentrations in water
The innovative use of quantum technology in spectral sensing marks a significant step forward in the field of water monitoring and significantly to protecting our natural resources and improving public health. The novelty of our approach to the synthesis of QDs as both visible and near infrared emitters consists of the employment of more environmentally friendly precursors and different doping materials, for instance manganese, cobalt, gold to obtain QDs, that are in turn singulated and template-based immobilized by the DNA origami technique for use as a single photon source.
The resulting biosensor will be evaluated for the detection of critical (endocrine disrupting) contaminants in water in fisheries and aquaponics. The GREENER project’s innovative technology will revolutionize the water monitoring industry, providing an environmentally friendly and costeffective solution that can be used by anyone to monitor water safety and quality.