Dimitris Sarantaridis, Christian Hennig and Daren J. Caruana
Chem. Sci., 2012,3, 2210-2216 Published article in Chemical
Science. and identification of airborne biological particles is
actually a very difficult analytical challenge. The current
method is based on trapping the particles on an adhesive strip
placed on a clockwork powered rotating drum. This is an
antiquated technology developed in the 1970’s and is still used
for pollen monitoring today. The method Dr Daren Caruana and co-
workers described in this publication is based on the propensity
for a particle to combust, similar to fragmentation using a
laser on the front end of a mass spectrometer (e.g. MALDI); but
then the detection of the fragments here is based on an
electrical detection (potentiometry). This approach is cost-
effective requiring a flame, electrodes and a voltmeter. In this
paper we demonstrate the potential to provide a viable approach
for the detection and identification of bioaerosols in real time
using a robust gas phase based el