Laser-Assisted Patterning of a Flexible Microplasma Discharge Device for Heavy Metal and Salt Detection in Ambient Air

This paper reports on the development of a novel low-power, microplasma discharge device (MDD) which when compared to the state-of-the-art is fabricated, for the first time, using laser-assisted patterning to detect heavy metals and salts, in ambient air. The MDD was formed by sandwiching a flexible polyimide substrate between flexible copper tapes (electrodes). The MDD was implemented for detecting varying concentrations (1 mM, 1 μM, 1 nM, 1 pM) of lead nitrate (Pb(NO 3 ) 2 ) and potassium chloride (KCl) using optical emission spectroscopy (OES), in ambient air. The OES response demonstrated pico-molar (pM) concentration detection of Pb(NO 3 ) 2 and KCl. The response of the MDD is analyzed and presented in this paper.