University of Illinois

Omid Mahdavipour

Igor Paprotny

Dorsa Fahimi

Microfabricated particulate matter (PM) monitors and fractionators within the PM monitors are provided. A primary channel of a vertical or out-of-plane fractionator receives air samples, comprising particles of varying sizes, from the external environment. The air samples then pass through a plurality of microfluidic channels, wherein inertial forces are applied within the microfluidic channels to separate the particles by size. The fractionator comprises a horizontal air outlet for particles having a size below a threshold size and a vertical air outlet for particles having a size above a threshold size. Thus, the proportion of PM in the air sample is reduced prior to deposition on a PM monitor. A virtual cyclone may also be provided that comprises a bend positioned at a flow path through a primary channel of the vertical microfabricated fractionator.

Microfabricated fractionator for particulate matter monitor

The present disclosure provides for a system and method of concentrating airborne particles, specifically toward the center of one or more intake channels of PM sensors. The invention provides a simple and cost effective device that, when used in conjunction with a MEMS PM sensor or the like, can increase the sensitivity of said device by orders of magnitude. An in-line MEMS PM concentrator uses a converging optical intensity field to concentrate particulate matter along the center of a longitudinal axis of a microchannel. More specifically, the concentrator is designed to bring in ambient air containing PM through a microchannel and concentrate the PM in the center of the microchannel using a converging optical intensity field within a confocal optical cavity.

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Chicago, IL, United States of America

Omid Mahdavipour