Aerosol InfraRed (AIR) Monitor - Introduction to Continuous Infrared Spectroscopy of Particulate Matter (PM)
NIKUNJ DUDANI, Andrea Baccarini, Arthur Blaser, Satoshi Takahama, Aerospec SA
Abstract Number: 700
Working Group: Exhibitor and Instrument Application Showcase
Abstract
The characterization of aerosol particles, or particulate matter (PM), is essential due to their significant impact on mortality, health and the environment. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a non-destructive method, which provides useful chemical information about the constituents (Debus et al., 2022) but is traditionally performed on PM collected on Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filters for which introduces spectral interferences, limiting detection capabilities. The Aerosol InfraRed (AIR) Monitor, developed at Aerospec, addresses these challenges by enabling continuous FTIR spectroscopy of PM collected on an infrared-transparent substrate and automated spectral processing.
This innovative technology allows continuous measurement of various inorganic chemical groups and organic functional groups (FGs) with enhanced accuracy. The AIR Monitor’s design integrates a novel electrostatic precipitation mechanism (Dudani and Takahama, 2020), that ensures high collection efficiency, low size-dependence, and minimal chemical interference, thus providing a more representative sample of the collected polydisperse aerosols, enabling direct quantitative measurements of PM.
In this presentation and demonstration, we will discuss the principles behind the AIR Monitor and its scalability in ambient air quality monitoring. The AIR Monitor’s potential to improve our understanding of aerosol composition and its implications for public health will be explored.
References
[1] Debus, B., Takahama, S., Dillner, A. M., & Wirgman, M. (2022). Prediction of elemental concentrations from infrared spectra using statistical learning. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 15(7), 2685–2705. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2685-2022.
[2] Dudani, S., & Takahama, S. (2024). Electrostatic collector for particulate matter analysis. U.S. Patent No. US20240024897A1. United States Patent and Trademark Office. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20240024897A1.