Name:

Dr. Karl Crowley B.Sc (Hons), Ph.D.

Contact details

Qualifications

Ph.D. - "Characterisation of Polymer-modified Electrodes", Dublin Institute of Technology, 2003

B.Sc. - Applied Physics and Chemistry, Dublin Institute of Technology, 1998

Project Summary

Traceability and quality assurance are taking on ever greater importance within national and European food industry. Recent advances and lower costs mean that new technology can be employed to improve the traceability chain without massive expense. Smart packaging is an example of this. In this case, a low cost gas-phase sensor is employed for the detection of spoilage in packaged fish. As its response is directly related to spoilage, it provides a much more reliable measure of quality than an arbitrary "best before" date.

The sensor comprises an indicator dye immobilised within a gas-permeable polymer membrane. An example of the sensors is given in figure 1. The indicator responds to volatile amines (such as ammonia and trimethylamine) which are released as the fish spoils. The resulting colour change can be read visually or with a handheld LED colorimeter (if a more quantitative result is required).

Figure 1: Example of colorimetric sensors on a package of spoiled fish. The sensors turn from yellow to red as the fish spoils, the topmost and lowest sensor strips are a control located outside the pack.

Publications

1. K. Crowley, J. Frisby, S. Murphy, M. Roantree, D. Diamond, Web-based real-time temperature monitoring of shellfish catches using a wireless sensor network, Sensors and Actuators A, 122 (2005) 2, p. 222 - 230.
2. K. Crowley, J. Frisby, S. Edwards, S. Murphy, M. Roantree, D. Diamond, Wireless temperature logging technology for the fishing industry, Proc. IEEE Sensors 2004, Vienna, Austria, Oct 24-27, 2004, p. 571-574.
3. K. Crowley , J. Cassidy, In situ resonance Raman spectroelectrochemistry of polypyrrole doped with dodecylbenzenesulfonate, Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 547 (2003) 1, p. 75 - 82.
4. K. Crowley, J. Cassidy, Trace analysis of lead at a Nafion-modified electrode using square-wave anodic stripping voltammetry. Electroanalysis. 14 (2002) 15 - 16, p. 1077 - 1082.

Further Information