Design of a High-Sensitivity Ambient Particulate Matter 2.5 Particle Detector for Personal Exposure Monitoring Devices

This paper newly proposes a high-sensitivity ambient particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) particle detector for personal exposure monitoring devices. The proposed high-sensitivity ambient PM2.5 particle detector compactly combined a commercial dust sensor and a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor transducer. The measured PM2.5 concentration ranged from 6.64 to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$55.12~\mu \text{g}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>/m³, and the corresponding output frequency range of the proposed particle detector was 0.63 to 4.03 MHz. The sensitivity was 70.287 kHz/(<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{g}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>/m³), which is largely upgraded compared with prior arts. All the functions and performance of the proposed particle detector for personal exposure monitoring devices were correctly verified and proven through measurements. An open-air experiment for monitoring PM2.5 concentration in industrial park was also tested successfully. The design of the proposed high-sensitivity ambient PM2.5 particle detector was suitable for personal exposure monitoring devices.