Surface photovoltage measurement of PM10 atmospheric aerosols collected over SRMIST-Kattankulathur campus (12.81° N & 80.03° E): a step towards utilization of atmospheric aerosols in optoelectronic applications

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2022-04, Vol.33 (12), p.9590-9598
• Main Authors: Marappan, Gobinath, Reji, Rence P., Mohan, Vigneshwaran, Lakshmi Kumar, T. V., Sivalingam, Yuvaraj, Surya, Velappa Jayaraman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerosols; Airborne sensing; Atmospheric aerosols; Carbon content; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemical composition; Chemistry and Materials Science; Contact potentials; Gas sensors; Materials Science; Metal oxides; Optical and Electronic Materials; Optoelectronic devices; Particulate emissions; Pollutants; Room temperature; Vibration mode
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-021-07582-y

In this work, we have measured the surface photovoltage of airborne particulate matter of size up to 10 microns (PM10) through scanning Kelvin probe (SKP) system at room temperature. The aerosol samples were collected using a dust respirable PM10 sampler located in SRM IST campus (12.81° N and 80.03° E) during September-2018 (Sep-2018) and November-2018 (Nov-2018). The morphology of the collected aerosol was characterized through HR-SEM. The chemical composition of the aerosol was confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. The EDX results confirmed the presence of more oxygen and absence of carbon content in the aerosol collected during Nov-2018. The vibration modes of identified chemical compositions were confirmed by Raman spectrum. Finally, the contact potential difference of both samples was measured by SKP with respect to visible light exposure. Interestingly, aerosol collected during Nov-2018 have better visible light response compared with Sep-2018 sample. This is probably due to the possibility of metal oxides formation without carbon contamination during Nov-2018. Meteorologically inferring that these pollutants have been transported from the Arabian Sea and continental India in most of the days during September- and November-2018, respectively. These results pave the way to use the metal oxides rich aerosol collected for particular month can be utilized toward optoelectronic and gas sensor applications.