Urea concentration identification device and urea concentration identification method

Abstract

A urea concentration identification device and a urea concentration identification method are provided. By providing an identical sine-wave AC signal to each of the urea concentration identification devices placed in urea solutions of different concentrations, different impedance values are output by the urea concentration identification devices since the urea solutions of different concentrations have different electrical interactions with the electrodes of the urea concentration identification device. Differences of the impedance output by the urea concentration identification device function as a data set for determining the concentration of the urea solution to be determined.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A urea concentration identification device adapted to identify a urea concentration in a urea solution, comprising:
 a substrate;   a lower electrode, disposed on the substrate;   a dielectric layer, disposed on the lower electrode;   a patterned upper electrode, disposed on the dielectric layer, wherein the patterned upper electrode comprises a plurality of accommodating spaces adapted to contain a portion of the urea solution.   
     
     
         2 . The urea concentration identification device of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a ceramic substrate. 
     
     
         3 . The urea concentration identification device of  claim 1 , wherein a pattern of the patterned upper electrode comprises a grid pattern, a spiral pattern or a meander line pattern. 
     
     
         4 . The urea concentration identification device of  claim 1 , wherein the patterned upper electrode has a linewidth ranging from 50 μm to 500 μm. 
     
     
         5 . The urea concentration identification device of  claim 1 , further comprising a porous layer disposed above the patterned upper electrode, wherein the urea solution to be identified is adapted to enter the accommodating spaces through the porous layer. 
     
     
         6 . A urea concentration identification method, comprising:
 providing the urea concentration identification device of  claim 1 , and placing the urea concentration identification device in a urea solution to be identified, wherein a portion of the urea solution enters the accommodating spaces of the patterned upper electrode of the urea concentration identification device;   providing a sine-wave AC signal to the urea concentration identification device, so that the urea solution in the accommodating spaces electrically interacts with the patterned upper electrode, and the urea concentration identification device identifies an impedance; and   analyzing the impedance identified by the urea concentration identification device, and retrieving from a database a concentration of the identified urea solution corresponding to the impedance.   
     
     
         7 . The urea concentration identification method of  claim 6 , further comprising providing a DC signal to the urea concentration identification device concurrently with providing the sine-wave AC signal to the urea concentration identification device, so as to suppress noise. 
     
     
         8 . The urea concentration identification method of  claim 6 , wherein steps of establishing the database comprise:
 placing the urea concentration identification device in the urea solution of different concentrations, and providing the sine-wave AC signal to the urea concentration identification device; and   performing frequency scanning with respect to the urea solution so as to obtain an impedance spectrum, and recording the impedance spectrum in the database.   
     
     
         9 . The urea concentration identification method of  claim 8 , wherein the step of retrieving the concentration of the identified urea solution from the database corresponding to the impedance comprises:
 defining a linear relationship between electric signal and concentration of the urea solution of different concentrations according to the impedance spectrum; and   finding the concentration of the identified urea solution through the linear relationship between electric signal and concentration according to electric characteristics of the identified urea solution identified by the urea concentration identification device.   
     
     
         10 . The urea concentration identification method of  claim 6 , wherein the impedance output by the urea concentration identification device comprises a resistance and a reactance. 
     
     
         11 . The urea concentration identification method of  claim 10 , wherein the reactance is an inductive reactance or a capacitive reactance.