<p>People could soon be using their smartphones to combat a deadly form of air pollution, thanks to a new low-cost method of detecting nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a significant air pollutant, says a study.<br /><br />"The revolutionary method we have developed is a great start to creating a handheld, low-cost and personalised NO2 sensor that can even be incorporated into smartphones," said project leader Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh, professor at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.<br /><br />Nitrogen dioxide increases the risk of respiratory disorders in children and can severely affect the elderly in particular.<br /><br />The negative impact of nitrogen dioxide could be prevented by access to personalised, highly selective, sensitive and reliable monitoring systems that could detect harmful levels of the gas early, Kalantar-zadeh said.</p>.<p>"The method we have developed is not only more cost-effective, it also works better than the sensors currently used to detect this dangerous gas," Kalantar-zadeh said.<br /><br />Kalantar-zadeh developed the new method for sensing nitrogen dioxide together with fellow RMIT researchers and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.<br /><br />The sensors, which operate by physically absorbing nitrogen dioxide gas molecules onto flakes of tin disulphide, a yellowish-brown pigment generally used in varnish for gilding. <br /><br />To create sensors, researchers transformed this material into flakes just a few atoms thick.<br />The large surface area of these flakes has a high affinity to nitrogen dioxide molecules that allows its highly selective absorption.<br /><br />The main contributors of nitrogen dioxide are the burning of fossil fuels, particularly in coal-fired power stations and diesel engines, which can impact on the health of people in urban areas.<br />The study was published in the journal ACS Nano.<br /></p>
<p>People could soon be using their smartphones to combat a deadly form of air pollution, thanks to a new low-cost method of detecting nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a significant air pollutant, says a study.<br /><br />"The revolutionary method we have developed is a great start to creating a handheld, low-cost and personalised NO2 sensor that can even be incorporated into smartphones," said project leader Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh, professor at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.<br /><br />Nitrogen dioxide increases the risk of respiratory disorders in children and can severely affect the elderly in particular.<br /><br />The negative impact of nitrogen dioxide could be prevented by access to personalised, highly selective, sensitive and reliable monitoring systems that could detect harmful levels of the gas early, Kalantar-zadeh said.</p>.<p>"The method we have developed is not only more cost-effective, it also works better than the sensors currently used to detect this dangerous gas," Kalantar-zadeh said.<br /><br />Kalantar-zadeh developed the new method for sensing nitrogen dioxide together with fellow RMIT researchers and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.<br /><br />The sensors, which operate by physically absorbing nitrogen dioxide gas molecules onto flakes of tin disulphide, a yellowish-brown pigment generally used in varnish for gilding. <br /><br />To create sensors, researchers transformed this material into flakes just a few atoms thick.<br />The large surface area of these flakes has a high affinity to nitrogen dioxide molecules that allows its highly selective absorption.<br /><br />The main contributors of nitrogen dioxide are the burning of fossil fuels, particularly in coal-fired power stations and diesel engines, which can impact on the health of people in urban areas.<br />The study was published in the journal ACS Nano.<br /></p>