10155134Compact chemical sensor for real-time environmental monitoringActiveCollaborative R&DInnovate UKMode Labs is a spinout from the University of Oxford's Departments of Chemistry and Materials that is developing next generation compact chemical sensors. Our novel chemical sensing platform delivers plug and play laboratory capabilities in the field, with 10,000x increased sensitivity provided by our patented optical microcavity technology. A platform technology, it can be expanded to almost any analyte in liquid, with applications across water, aquaculture, and security markets. Our devices use 1,000x less consumables and 400x less power than competitor devices, allowing us to package them into a compact system that can be deployed almost anywhere on battery power for extended periods of time. The system is self cleaning and self calibrating, reducing the maintenance burden for our customers and allowing for deployments up to 6x longer than competitor devices. This Innovate UK project will provide support for the construction and field testing of miniaturised remote autonomous sensors for environmental monitoring of Total Phosphorus and Ammonia in rivers and lakes. As a result, Mode Labs will be able to provide a low cost, portable, real time method for speciating and quantifying pollutants in natural waterways, allowing targeted intervention, reducing capital expenditure and operating costs for water companies (\>£1B CAPEX and \>£300M per year OPEX savings in the UK) for regulation mandated monitoring. This device would then act as a platform from which we can target emerging contaminants of concern, including pesticides, herbicides, and pharmaceutical contaminants in water supplies, as well as expanding into adjacent markets in aquaculture, process control and security.