Independent component analysis of nanomechanical responses of cantilever arrays.

The ability to detect and identify chemical and biological elements in air or liquid environments is of far reaching importance. Performing this task using technology that minimally impacts the perceived environment is the ultimate goal. The development of functionalized cantilever arrays with nanomechanical sensing is an important step towards this goal.

Facile hyphenation of gas chromatography and a microcantilever array sensor for enhanced selectivity.

The very simple coupling of a standard, packed-column gas chromatograph with a microcantilever array (MCA) is demonstrated for enhanced selectivity and potential analyte identification in the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The cantilevers in MCAs are differentially coated on one side with responsive phases (RPs) and produce bending responses of the cantilevers due to analyte-induced surface stresses. Generally, individual components are difficult to elucidate when introduced to MCA systems as mixtures, although pattern recognition techniques are helpful in identifying single components, binary mixtures, or composite responses of distinct mixtures (e.