Mobile Acoustic Wave Platform Deployment in the Amazon River: Impact of the Water Sample on the Love Wave Sensor Response

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental platform allowing in situ measurement in an aqueous medium using an acoustic Love wave sensor. The aim of this platform, which includes the sensor, a test cell for electrical connections, a microfluidic chip, and a readout electronic circuit, is to realize a first estimation of water quality without transportation of water samples from the field to the laboratory as a medium-term objective. In the first step, to validate the ability of such a platform to operate in the field and in Amazonian water, an isolated and difficult-to-access location, namely, the floodplain Logo Do Curuaï in the Brazilian Amazon, was chosen. The ability of such a platform to be transported, installed on site, and used is discussed in terms of user friendliness and versatility. The response of the Love wave sensor to in situ water samples is estimated according to the physical parameters of Amazonian water. Finally, the very good quality of the acoustic response is established, potential further improvements are discussed, and the paper is concluded.The other method is based on the collection of in situ samples with conditioning methods that require not only the transport of the samples from the field to analytical laboratories but also the analysis of these same samples by highly qualified personnel using analytical chemistry tools that are sometimes very expensive, such as gas chromatographs, mass spectrometers, and electrophoretic stations.Drawbacks include the biochemical degradation of the samples during their collection and transportation [6]. Moreover, this method does not allow an exhaustive analysis of the biochemical compounds in the water column over a large area of investigation. Indeed, the logistics of deployment and the overall cost, including consumables and the workforce, result in a very low frequency of in-field sample collection and necessitate complex work to evaluate a large number of samples that nevertheless cannot be efficiently treated in terms of time compared to the surfaces to be studied. This drawback is not compatible with the need for water quality data over a large area [7].An intermediate approach, allowing the coverage of a high surface area while analyzing biochemical compounds in the water column, is to use in situ biochemical sensors that are easily deployable. If one sensor can provide information about the presence of a target compound, certain properties are important for covering a large area with a minimum cost, such as good sensitivity, easy communicating, low cost, user friendliness, and low power consumption or even passive power operation. These properties leverage autonomous sensor networks to cover a large area and/or to allow the use of nonexpert people to realize rapid in situ testing of water quality.As a response to this issue, we propose to use acoustic transduction based on a surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter with the ultimate goal to realize biochemical detection in the field. SAW sensors are a good candidate to supply all the needed properties fo...

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“…That could be related mainly to the higher molecular weight of mercury when compared with cadmium. It was indeed shown that the adsorbed mass affects the response of the acoustic Love wave sensing and, hence, improves sensitivity [ 21 , 35 ].…”

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