Solid-state, calibration-free pH sensor to be retrofitted into glass electrodes, or to be developed into new products for water monitoring and oceanography

pH sensors have changed little for decades. In many emergent fields they are simply not up to the task. The expensive and fragile glass electrodes need to be manually calibrated on a regular basis, and do not operate in low buffer media. In the world of networked plants and internet of things, they are simply obsolete. A UK startup company has patented and developed solid-state electrochemistry that self-calibrates in situ. No drift has been observed over 4 months in ongoing experiments. The company has started a number of non-exclusive discussions around routes to market but is open to further ones. First, the quicker route to market is using the solid-state chemistry as a retrofit to glass electrodes, fitting in the reference chamber (see the Picture). The main driver is freeing the users of engineer visits that currently typically make up 70% of the cost of a pH sensor. Production prototypes are ready and first in-field trials are imminent with such sensors. The UK company offers the technology to pH sensor manufacturers under license. Similarly, the technology can be introduced in new products. Secondly, there are new applications and even new markets that will benefit from small, affordable, robust pH sensors. On the one hand, these will be solutions for the internet of things. Examples include freshwater and drinking water monitoring in real time. On the other hand, there is already interest from fields such as oceanography. More and more organisations are experimenting with unmanned underwater vessels or swarms thereof that need small and robust sensors. The UK company wishes to have open discussions with developers of transducers or integrators of sondes, for IoT and other markets. The co-operation will include technical co-operation and manufacturing (either in the UK or with the partners).