Innovative IAQ Organic Sensor

AbstractAn innovative organic sensor for the monitoring of indoor air quality is described. For office buildings and schools the main requirements are: temperature, RH %, O2 and CO2 concentrations. Moreover low O2 and high CO2 concentrations can be hazardous. There are a lot of sensors based on different principal transducers that are able to detect very low concentrations of CO2, O2, and RH%.The system is based on a resistive interdigital sensor based on an organic sensing material, anthocyanin. Anthocyanins are natural pigments widely distributed in nature: they are produced by plants as secondary metabolites responsible for the pigmentation of many flowers, fruits and vegetables. In this work authors show the possibility to use this innovative organic sensor to monitor indoor air quality by measuring O2 concentration shifts with respect to a standard of 20% (20.000ppm) and the critical CO2 concentration value of about 5% (5000ppm) which is comparable with OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) standard in an eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA)