Projet ANR-15-CE39-0001 – BIONANODETEC : Microleviers bio-inspirés nanostructurés et fonctionnalisés pour la détéction sensible et sélective d'agents chimiques
Programme : Sécurité des citoyens, lutte contre le crime et le terrorisme (DS0901) 2015
Année de financement : 2015
Coordinateur du projet : Madame Valérie KELLER (Institut de Chimie et des Procédés pour l'Energie, l'Environnement et la Santé)
Partenaires : Laboratoire public; Laboratoire public
Montant : 496216.0 euros
Date de début : 2015
Durée : 42 mois
Résumé : There is a great need for efficient – rapid, sensitive and selective – detection of Chemical Warfare Agents (more especially OP – OrganoPhosphorous agents) both during terrorist attacks or for post-use decontamination purposes to make sure that ambient areas are no more contaminated. Sensitivity is determined by the lowest concentration of OP agent that can be detected with confidence. Selectivity is determined by the ability to respond only to the targeted OP agents, i.e. to be able to distinguish only targeted compounds over a broad range of concentrations, from any other substances present in the environment. The ability for rapid detection, to identify and to monitor OP agents is imperative for the efficient use of both military and civilian defense, in order to identify areas that are definitely unpolluted or no more contaminated.
The BIONANODETEC project is clearly devoted to the detection of ultra-trace quantities in vapor phase (for the first time under the lethal limit, lower than the ppb level to reach the ppt level never reached before) of OrganoPhosphorous substances acting as chemical warfare agents. Compared to existing technologies, it is novel and innovative because it starts from a disruptive concep tof cantilever nano-structuration – with vertically oriented TiO2and CuO nanotubes -, enabling to reduce the detection threshold. Nevertheless, in addition to this concept, this project displays further disruptive progresses and breakthroughs:
(1)	Nano-structuration of piezoresistive cantilevers, allowing miniaturization and easier prototyping of the sensing system. This first additional breakthrough is to replace classical cantilever design i.e. with an optical readout by Laser beam, by cantilevers using piezoresistive readout. With this kind of cantilevers, it may be possible (thanks to nanostructuration on both sides) to increase the capturing surface and thus to enhance detection threshold.
(2)	Scaling-up of nanostructuration step of piezoresistive microlevers to produce the sensors in large scale to ensure high dissemination.The choosen solution  consists in combining the nanotubes synthesis to the cantilever fabrication process. Piezoresistive cantilevers are made from a 4 inches wafer. More than 300 nanostructured cantilevers could thus be produced at the same time.
(3)	Functionalization of the nanostructured cantilevers with self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of oxime sto reach high selectivity towards OP agents. Original bifunctional molecules composed with pyridinaldoxime or pyridinalamidoxime sensing chemical function (SCF), and a functional Attachment Group (FAG) able to link covalently to TiO2 and CuO surfaces will be synthetized and used for the chemical functionalization. 
As a consequence and considering the current terrorist threat through chemical warfare, these three previously mentioned and novel approaches represent the bottlenecks to overcome to reach this important challenge. The project is really ambitious as the objectives to reach high selectivity and sensitivity (below the lethality level, as never reached before) are highly challenging. The benefit and the impact for society will be very significant.