Scientists from Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton, in partnership with the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), have developed a graphene-based sensor and switch that can detect harmful air pollution in the home with very low power consumption.

The sensor detects individual CO2 molecules and volatile organic compound (VOC) gas molecules found in building and interior materials, furniture and even household goods, which adversely affect our living in modern houses with good insulation.

These harmful chemical gases have low concentrations of ppb (parts per billion) levels and are extremely difficult to detect with current environmental sensor technology, which can only detect concentrations of parts per million (ppm).

In recent years, there has been an increase in health problems due to air pollution in personal living spaces, known as sick building syndrome (SBS), along with other conditions such as sick car and sick school syndromes.

The research group, led by Professor Hiroshi Mizuta, who holds a joint appointment at the University of Southampton and JAIST, and Dr Jian Sun and Assistant Professor Manoharan Muruganathan of JAIST, developed the sensor to detect individual CO2 molecules adsorbed (the bond of molecules from a gas to a surface) onto the suspended graphene (single atomic sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like hexagonal crystal lattice structure) one by one by applying an electric field across the structure.

By monitoring the electrical resistance of the graphene beam, the adsorption and desorption (whereby a substance is released from or through a surface) processes of individual CO2 molecules onto the graphene were detected as ‘quantised’ changes in resistance (step-wise increase or decrease in resistance). In the study, published today in Science Advances, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a small volume of CO2 gas (equivalent to a concentration of approximately 30 ppb) was released and the detection time was only a few minutes.

Professor Mizuta said: “In contrast to the commercially available environmental monitoring tools, this extreme sensing technology enables us to realise significant miniaturisation, resulting in weight and cost reduction in addition to the remarkable improvement in the detection limit from the ppm levels to the ppb levels.â€?

Research group members, Dr Harold Chong of Southampton and Dr Marek Schmidt and Dr Jian Sun of JAIST, have also recently developed graphene-based switches (published in the March issue of Nanoscale, the journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry) using a uniquely thin film developed at the University of Southampton.

The switches, which require remarkably low voltages (below three volts), can be used to power electronic components on demand, greatly improving the battery lifetime of personal electronic devices.

Professor Mizuta and the research group are now aiming to bring the two technologies together to create ultra-low-power environmental sensor systems that can detect single molecules.

The department of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton has achieved excellent results in the Complete University Guide institutional rankings for 2017, topping the UK tables for graduate prospects in both Electrical & Electronic Engineering and Computer Science.

Electronics & Electrical Engineering retained a top three position – for the eight year running – on a range of criteria that included student satisfaction, graduate job prospects, research, and entry standards. In this table, Southampton shares the top three places with Cambridge and Imperial College London and jointly leads the table for graduate prospects.

In the Computer Science category, ECS again takes the lead for graduate prospects and achieved an increase of two places bringing it to sixth in the table.

Alongside ECS within the Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Physics and Astronomy moved ahead five places to 14th place.

Professor Bashir M Al-Hashimi, Dean of the Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering commented: “Continued success in these tables is an excellent achievement. I thank staff across the faculty for their hard work and commitment in delivering such high quality education for our students within the context of world-class research activity. I am particularly proud of our success in the area of graduate prospects. Our students can have confidence that they will benefit from our strong industry connections and continued investment in state of the art facilities to remain in demand by leading high-tech companies for the breadth of their technical understanding.â€?

Engineering across Southampton did well across the board, continuing a run of featuring in the top 10 for Aeronautical, Civil and Mechanical Engineering every year since the Complete University Guide was first published in 2008. Overall, the University of Southampton consolidated its position among the UK’s top 20 universities by placing 17th.

The Complete University Guide – one of three principal UK-based rankings for UK universities – is based on a wide range of criteria including UCAS entry tariffs, student satisfaction, research excellence and intensity, graduate prospects, student-staff ratio, university spending on academic services and facilities, the percentage of first degree graduates achieving a first or upper second class honours degree, and degree completion.

Students from Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton joined the best student hackers from the UK’s 13 Academic Centres of Excellence (ACE) in Cyber Security Research at the inaugural Inter-ACE Cyberchallenge.

The event took place at the University of Cambridge on Saturday 23 April 2016 and was organised in partnership with Facebook. The competing teams of four came from 10 of the 13 Universities accredited as ACEs under the EPSRC/GCHQ scheme: Imperial College, Queens University Belfast, Royal Holloway University of London, University College London, University of Birmingham, University of Cambridge, University of Kent, University of Oxford, University of Southampton, University of Surrey. Challenges were set and administered by Facebook and competing institutions also submitted optional “guest challengesâ€? for others to solve.

The players competed in a ‘Capture the Flag’ information security competition involving both ‘jeopardy’ style and ‘attack-defence’ style aspects. Game progress was visualized on a world map with teams attempting to conquer and re-conquer world countries by solving associated challenges.

The University of Southampton team performed well throughout the competition, leading for the first half and never falling below second for five hours. The decisive final five minutes put Southampton into third place behind the University of Cambridge and Imperial College.

The team was led by Mohit Gupta, a final year student in MEng Electronic Engineering with Artificial Intelligence and also comprised, Yordan Ganchev (final year BSc Computer Science), Murray Colpman (final year MEng Computer Science), and Kier Davis (first year MEng Electronic Engineering with Computer Systems). Mohit was delighted with the result, saying: “While we were disappointed to not get first place, third is still a great achievement for the team and we look forward to improving upon this result in future years. What was really pleasing was the fantastic response when we asked for people to take part in the competition. There were so many people that we ended up running a selection process.â€?

Professor Vladimiro Sassone, Director of the University’s Cyber Security Academy, attended as supervisor. He said: "It was a privilege to witness the excitement, passion and commitment of the players, who worked head down for 5 hours without stops. And of course, I am delighted with our results, which goes to show the quality of the work we are doing at the Cyber Security Academy.â€?

The Inter-ACE Cyberchallenge also featured a competition for individuals from the ACEs. Bronze in this competition also went to a Southampton student, David Young – a final year Maths student who participated remotely.

The International Consortium of Nanotechnologies (ICoN) – led by the University of Southampton and supported by Lloyd’s Register Foundation has announced its first ten PhD studentships - three of which are placed with researchers from Electroincs and Computer Science at Southampton.

Launched in September 2015, ICoN aims to build capacity and knowledge in the application of nanotechnologies to support safety of life and property – addressing issues outlined in Lloyds Register Foundation’s ‘Foresight Review of Nanotechnology’. The doctoral studentships offered by ICoN will explore these issues, focusing on themes such as miniaturisation of sensor technology, big data, engineered smart materials, energy storage and nanoparticles.

The projects led by Southampton are:

• "Single Electron Manipulation in Silicon Nano-Wire for Quantum Technologies" - under the supervision of Professor Shinichi Saito
• "Nano/Micro- Electro-Mechanical-System self-powered sensors for infrastructure safety monitoring" - under the supervision of Dr Jize Yan
• "Ultrafast Nanostructuring of Wide Bandgap SiC for Electronics in Harsh Environments" - under the joint supervision of Professor Kees de Groot and Professor Jamie Phillips of the University of Michigan

The full list of studentships awarded can be found on the LRF ICON website.

Wednesday 12 March 2003 in the Turner Sims Concert Hall (Building 52 on Highfield Campus map)

Twenty-five ThinkPads have been donated to ECS by IBM Hursley, as part of the company"s programme to promote greater use of the Linux operating system. Students at the School of Electronics and Computer Science can apply to take part in a year's exploration into the use of Linux and will win the use of a ThinkPad as part of the project. The aim is to develop a wireless networked community and investigate collaborative working. Head of School, Professor Wendy Hall, said: "This is a very exciting opportunity for the University to work closely with industry to provide and encourage students to use the latest software and mobile computing technologies." Graham Spittle, Lab Director at IBM Hursley, presented the ThinkPads at a ceremony at the School of Electronics and Computer Science. "We are delighted to be part of this innovative project," he said. "Linux is increasingly significant and we want to support creative ways of exploring its future potential. My message to the students is, tell us what you learn, but most of all, have fun.' More than 15 million ThinkPad notebook computers have been produced so far. They have been trusted for use in some of the world's most extreme settings, including space shuttle launches, at altitudes of more than 17,000 feet above sea level and on the open seas.