New Smartphone Sensors Can Detect Identify and Measure Gases

Scientists have developed a miniature smartphone sensor that can identify the type and amount of gases in air samples. Gas measurements made with smartphones will make activities such as the detection of internal air problems easier, researchers said.

In addition, sleep quality will be measurable with greater precision, using mobile health-care applications which gauge carbon dioxide quantities, researchers said. Many sensor developers are interested in using smartphones to measure gas concentrations.

"This is probably due to the spread of the Internet of Things (IoT), which enables indirect observations of a range of environmental factors based on data gathered from single sensors or sensor networks," said Anna Rissanen from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

"Many day-to-day issues, such as precision and efficiency in the workplace, can depend on carbon dioxide levels and internal air quality," said Rissanen, leader of the research team. Using a mobile device to measure carbon dioxide will also enable new applications for smartphones: for example, sleep quality can be monitored by measuring the sleeper's exhalations.

The tiny gas sensor developed by team's senior scientist Rami Mannila is based on channelling light through the sample being analysed. Penetrability at various light wavelengths can be used to determine the composition of the compound. Carbon dioxide is identified based on its strong absorption of light at a wavelength of 4.2 micrometres.

In addition, a corresponding sensor technology can be used to simultaneously differentiate and detect other gases or substances based on the spectrum of their absorption peaks at various infra-red wavelengths, researchers said.