Abstract:
Atomospheric particulate matter (PM) are tiny airborne pollutants floating in the air. They come from construction materials, dust, smoking, cooking, automobile exhaust, charcoal power plant, etc. Particulate matter pollutants are potential threat to human health. Particulate matters with diameter of 2.5μm or less are called PM2.5 and they are especially harmful for human respiratory system. They can penetrate into deeper part of lungs and human body does not have a mechanism to repel them out. Long term exposure to high concentration of PM2.5 leads to mesothelioma, lung cancer, bronchitis, heart attacks and many other diseases. Air pollution is also becoming a serious problem in many developing countries due to their increased activity in developing the economy. Traditional PM detectors are heavy, bulky and expensive. As people are becoming more and more aware of the health threat of air pollutants, a low-cost and portable PM sensor is in great demand. In this poster, a particulate sensor based on MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems) technology is proposed. Due to MEMS technology, it has the advantages of small size, low weight, low cost and high sensitivity. People can easily carry it to monitor the air quality anywhere they go. This can protect users from potential exposure to the polluted air in-door or during travel. The PM sensor was designed and its function is verified with COMSOL simulation.
