Solid-state sensor to detect the heavy metal ions developed

Solid-state sensor to detect the heavy metal ions developed

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Science and Technology

In News:

• Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS) has developed a compact solid-state sensor to detect the heavy metal ions in water.
• The sensor can detect the heavy metal ions, e.g., lead ions (Pb2) down to 0.4 parts per billion (ppb) for efficient onsite detection.

Important value additions:

Heavy metal ions

• Heavy metal ions such as lead, mercury and cadmium pose severe potential threats to living beings as they can easily be accumulated in the body.
• They cannot be detoxified by any chemical or biological processes.

Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS)

• It is an autonomous research institute under Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. 
• DST provides core support to the Centre in the form of a grant-in-aid for conducting basic and applied research in nano and soft matter sciences. 
• CeNS is located at Jalahalli, Bengaluru.
• The current activities of the Centre are focussed on a variety of metal and semiconductor nanostructures, liquid crystals, gels, membranes and hybrid materials.
• It is being mentored by Nano-Mission of the Government of India.