This paper presents a comprehensive review of magnetoelastic environmental sensor technology; topics include operating physics, sensor design, and illustrative applications. Magnetoelastic sensors are made of amorphous metallic glass ribbons or wires, with a characteristic resonant frequency inversely proportional to length. The remotely detected resonant frequency of a magnetoelastic sensor shifts in response to different physical parameters including stress, pressure, temperature, flow velocity, liquid viscosity, magnetic field, and mass loading. Coating the magnetoelastic sensor with a mass changing, chemically responsive layer enables realization of chemical sensors. Magnetoelastic sensors can be remotely interrogated by magnetic, acoustic, or optical means. The sensors can be characterized in the time domain, where the resonant frequency is determined through analysis of the sensor transient response, or in the frequency domain where the resonant frequency is determined from the frequency-amplitude spectrum of the sensor.

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In this work we report on the complex permittivity spectra and electrical conductivity of both as-fabricated and graphitized multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs). The high-temperature annealing removes the Fe3C catalyst particles present in the as-fabricated material, enabling the intrinsic MWNT properties to be measured. The permittivity spectra of 1 wt % MWNT-polystyrene composite films are measured from 75 to 1875 MHz. Comparison of measurements with an appropriate effective medium model shows that the residual catalyst inclusions in the core of the nanotube increase the average electrical conductivity by approximately a factor of 3.5.

An aqueous sensor network is described consisting of an array of sensor nodes that can be randomly distributed throughout a lake or drinking water reservoir. The data of an individual node is transmitted to the host node via acoustic waves using intermediate nodes as relays. Each node of the sensor network is a data router, and contains sensors capable of measuring environmental parameters of interest. Depending upon the required application, each sensor node can be equipped with different types of physical, biological or chemical sensors, allowing long-term, wide area, in situ multi-parameter monitoring. In this work the aqueous sensor network is described, with application to pH measurement using magnetoelastic sensors. Beyond ensuring drinking water safety, possible applications for the aqueous sensor network include advanced industrial process control, monitoring of aquatic biological communities, and monitoring of waste-stream effluents.

In response to an externally applied time-varying magnetic field, freestanding sensors made of magnetoelastic thick or thin films mechanically oscillate. These oscillations are strongest at the characteristic resonant frequency of the sensor. Depending upon the physical geometry and the surface roughness of the magnetoelastic sensor, these mechanical deformations launch an acoustic wave that can be detected remotely from the test area by a microphone. By monitoring changes in the characteristic resonant frequency of a magnetoacoustic sensor, multiple environmental parameters can be measured. In this work we report on the application of magnetoacoustic sensors for the remote query measurement of temperature, the monitoring of phase transitions and, in combination with a humidity-responsive mass-changing Al2O3 ceramic thin film, the in situ measurement of humidity levels.

Earlier work ͓C. A. Grimes et al., Smart Mater. Struct. 8, 639, ͑1999͔͒ has shown that upon immersion in liquid the resonant frequency of a magnetoelastic sensor shifts linearly in response to the square root of the liquid density and viscosity product. It is shown that comparison between a pair of magnetoelastic sensors with different degrees of surface roughness can be used to simultaneously determine the liquid density and viscosity.

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A frequency counting technique is described for determining the resonance frequency of a transiently excited sensor; the technique is applicable to any sensor platform where the characteristic resonance frequency is the parameter of interest. The sensor is interrogated by a pulse-like excitation signal, and the resonance frequency of the sensor subsequently determined by counting the number of oscillations per time during sensor ring-down. A repetitive time domain interrogation technique is implemented to overcome the effects of sensor damping, such as that associated with mass loading, which reduces the duration of the sensor ring-down and hence the measurement resolution. The microcontroller based, transient frequency counting technique is detailed with application to the monitoring of magnetoelastic sensors [C. A. Grimes, D. Kouzoudis, and C. Mungle, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 71, 3822 (2000)], with a measurement resolution of 0.001% achieved in approximately 40 ms.