Haifeng Zhang
University of North Texas, TX·Engineering
Marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) tries to boost the ocean's natural ability to absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere, as one way to slow climate change. Checking whether these efforts work, and whether they are safe for ocean life, depends on measuring seawater pH (acidity) reliably.
- Fields
Engineering
Earth & Environmental Science
Materials Science
- Topics
micro-electro-mechanical systems
pH sensor
ocean pH monitoring
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Design, fabricate and test a MEMS resonant sensor on a piezoelectric single-crystal wafer that measures pH, pressure and temperature together. The goal is sensitive pH readings that do not drift with depth-related changes.
- Design and build an ocean wave energy converter that overcomes the mismatch between fast-vibrating small buoys and slow ocean waves, providing sustainable power for continuous sensor operation.
- Integrate the sensor and energy harvester into one system and test it in the University of Michigan wave tank, followed by field demonstration at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography marine lab.
More about the research
Today's ocean pH sensors have several weaknesses. They lack sensitivity and accuracy, their readings drift as pressure and temperature change with depth, and they stop working when their power runs out.
Why it matters
Reliable, long-lasting pH monitoring could help researchers and companies running marine carbon dioxide removal projects judge environmental impact and tune their methods. The same self-powered sensing platform could also serve wave and tide gauging, tsunami detection, ocean surveys, seabed subsidence monitoring and underwater mapping calibration. The team plans to work with offshore instrument developers and government labs to speed up deployment.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Trevor Thornton
Arizona State University Campus Immersion, AZ·Materials Science
Provide open external access to three core facilities spanning semiconductor device, sensor and micro-electro-mechanical systems fabrication, advanced electron microscopy and materials characterization, and bio-synthetic nanomaterials.
Tyler Cyronak
Georgia Southern University, GA·Earth & Environmental Science
Quantify how much total alkalinity flows out of sediments in two contrasting seagrass ecosystems, using field and laboratory chamber incubations and pore water analyses.
Danesh Tafti
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, VA·Engineering
Develop 3D assessment metrics covering technical feasibility, economic viability and socio-environmental acceptability to screen ocean wave energy converter concepts and down-select 2–3 leads for remote coastal communities.
The school
University of North Texas: 4 labs on PI Pages, $124M a year on research, 283 research doctorates a year.
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