UT researchers develop super-sensitive film sensor for biodiesel in jetfuel

In Tennessee, researchers at the University of Tennessee have developed thin-film sensors with such high sensitivity toward biodiesel contamination in jet fuel that they can trace biodiesel contaminant in diesel at as low as 0.5 ppm in under half an hour. Current ASTM regulations have the contamination level set at 5ppm while there is pressure to get that raised to 100ppm. Researchers at the U.K.-based Energy Institute are doing tests at 400ppm to make sure the 100ppm level is safe. The university is currently looking for partners to commercialize the sensor technology that it says is intrinsically small, easy to use, inexpensive, and can be mass-produced for disposable applications, and can also be adapted for field applications.