IMT UEFISCDI Ministry of Education and Research Cyberllence

Project Results

TRL 4 demonstrator for BPA monitoring, with energy-efficient wireless transmission

Objectives & Status

  • Ob1 - MIN electrochemical graphene sensor (selectivity & sensitivity) - validated on real samples.
  • Ob2 - In-house potentiostat (PCB) + solar-powered microcontroller (Nextlab) - data acquisition & processing.
  • Ob3 - Dual-antenna RFID system 2.5/5 GHz (harvesting & harmonics) - passive reading over meters.
  • Ob4 - Integration & laboratory validation - TRL 4.

Initial → Final TRL: 2 → 4 (laboratory validation, realistic EM propagation environment).

Scientific & Technological Results (Expected)

  • MIN-graphene electrochemical sensor with enhanced selectivity for BPA (LOQ, sensitivity, selectivity, reproducibility).
  • PCB potentiostat with low-noise amplifier, interfaced with Nextlab microcontroller (analog input 5 V / GPIO, USB serial).
  • Dual-antenna RFID tag (2.5/5 GHz) with SMD diode doubler; passive reading over several meters.
  • Integrated solar-powered platform with on-demand / real-time data transmission.

Dissemination & KPI

  • Website & logo
  • Publications: min. 3 Q1/Q2 articles + 3 conference presentations.
  • Open access where possible (links to OpenAIRE); protection of intellectual property rights for results with economic potential.

Infrastructure & Validation

Activities are conducted in IMT facilities using equipment such as XRD, AUTOLAB, EIS, SECM, SEM, AFM, Raman, as well as the RF-MEMS-L4 laboratory facilities. The validation process is carried out in the laboratory on real samples under conditions that reproduce a realistic electromagnetic environment.

New!

  • Executive summary of activities carried out in 2025

In Stage 1 of the project, all the objectives planned for each activity were achieved. The main results obtained in 2025 were the following::

  1. the initial AuMFE structures were produced in order to evaluate their physical characteristics, using fabricated masks.
  2. The working electrodes (WE) were functionalized with S-Gr and MIP, followed by the physical evaluation of the materials, namely: compositional and morphological characterization, and electrochemical assessment of the developed sensors.
  3. The circuits for the potentiostat were designed using KiCad EDA, an open-source and cross-platform electronic design automation suite, and were subsequently simulated.
  4. The microcontroller Nextlab (P1) was customized taking into account the potentiostat output (in terms of current level) and the specifications of the dual-antenna RFID system.
  5. The RFID antennas were designed on a standard copper-clad FR‑4 substrate. The antennas were optimized for the target frequency bands (2.5 and 5 GHz) using selective 3D parametric electromagnetic simulations in CST Studio Suite.
  6. A logo and a website were created.
  7. The dissemination activities consisted of an oral presentation, a poster presentation, and two articles submitted for publication in ISI journals.