Aerosol Sampling and Detection by Magnetic Nanoparticle-Based Cyclone Methods

Abstract

Bioaerosol transmission has received much attention as one of the significant ways of causing respiratory diseases. Therefore, studying bioaerosol sampling and detection is crucial. In this study, magnetic nanoparticles and cyclone sampling were combined to monitor pathogens in the form of bioaerosol at low concentrations in the environment. Magnetic nanoparticles had obvious advantages in extracting bacterial nucleic acid, which could be purified and enriched in a short time. The influencing factors on the performance of the high-flow cyclone sampler were also explored. The results showed that the high-flow cyclone sampler had good collection efficiency owing to high flow rate and small cutting size. Moreover, the sampling effect was better when the flow rate and the sampling time were set to 300 L/min and 20 min, which was probably due to desiccation effect, impact stress, embedding, and particle rebound. The experimental results indicated that the cyclone aerosol sampling technology based on magnetic nanoparticles could even detect low concentration bioaerosol, providing a reference for using high-flow cyclone samplers in different applications.