US 12,259,347 B2
Device and method for sensing the conductivity of a fluid
Laura Ortega Tañá, Cerdanyola del Vallès (ES); Anna Llorella Bustins, Cerdanyola del Vallès (ES); Juan Pablo Esquivel Bojorquez, Barcelona (ES); and Neus Sabaté Vizcarra, Barcelona (ES)
Assigned to CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTÍFICAS, Madrid (ES); and INSTITUCIÓ CATALANA DE RECERCA I ESTUDIS AVANATS (ICREA), Barcelona (ES)
Appl. No. 16/979,114
Filed by CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTÍFICAS, Madrid (ES); and INSTITUCIÓ CATALANA DE RECERCA I ESTUDIS AVANÇATS, Barcelona (ES)
PCT Filed Mar. 11, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/056053
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 8, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/175119, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 19, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 18382158 (EP), filed on Mar. 12, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2020/0400596 A1, Dec. 24, 2020
Int. Cl. G01N 27/07 (2006.01); G01R 31/389 (2019.01); H01M 6/32 (2006.01); H01M 10/48 (2006.01)
CPC G01N 27/07 (2013.01) [G01R 31/389 (2019.01); H01M 6/32 (2013.01); H01M 10/484 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for sensing an electrolytic conductivity of a fluid, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a battery comprising an oxidizing electrode and a reducing electrode that are separated at a distance and connected by one of a hydrophilic material, a porous material, a combination of the hydrophilic material and the porous material, or an empty receptacle, thereby providing a microfluidic cavity,
a battery performance being sensitive to a presence of analytes with ionic charge that determine an electrolytic conductivity of the fluid to be sensed, the fluid acting as a battery electrolyte and not as fuel,
the oxidizing electrode comprising a first material that undergoes oxidation and the reducing electrode comprising a second material that undergoes reduction, the oxidizing electrode and the reducing electrode being indirectly in contact via the fluid,
an internal resistance of the battery depending on the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid, and
the battery being activated upon an addition of the fluid to the microfluidic cavity;
providing, by the battery, electrical energy while the fluid impregnates by capillarity the microfluidic cavity; and
connecting at least one instrument to the battery, the instrument being designed such that its equivalent impedance makes the battery work at a specific operating point allowing determining or discriminating among values of the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid via a Direct Current (DC) mode method,
wherein the instrument further quantifies the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid from the electrical energy provided by the battery,
wherein the electrolytic conductivity of the fluid is inferred from the battery performance.