Purdue Zero Gravity Microcantilever Project
About
Functionalized piezoresistive microcantilever arrays form a light-weight and sensitive platform to detect multiple target analytes for monitoring contaminants and astronaut health in space flight. We propose to test microcantilever arrays under zero-g conditions to better learn what, if any, limitations zero-g might impose on future microcantilever-based detection schemes for both gas phase and liquid phase monitoring.
The group is comprised of students and faculty from Purdue University's Mechanical Engineering and Physics departments. We hope to analyze the effectiveness of a cantilever array in a zero gravity environment. Cantilevers are useful tools for detecting foreign substances such as spores, viruses, and other biological threats in the surrounding environment. Ultimately, cantilever sensors will be incorporated into future NASA space flights and used as detectors of such contanimants in the space craft.