Quartz Crystal Microbalance Study in Controlled Environment for Particulate Matter Sensing.

Today, air quality sensors miniaturization is a trending topic for industry research. Market demand for wearable devices with “internet of things” capabilities has exponential growth. Particulate matter sensors in consumer electronics are all based on the optical particles counter mechanism and are always too bulky. As an interesting alternative we propose a study on a commercial quartz crystal microbalance showing the correlation between its electronic features and the measurement of the particulate matter present in the air with a reference instrument. We also present preliminary measurements for a quartz crystal microbalance which surface is covered by a layer of graphene nanoplatelets making a comparison with the pristine one.