Adhesion of Dust Particles to Common Indoor Surfaces in an Air-Conditioned Environment

Adhesion between dust particles and indoor surfaces can lead to negative effects on human health by triggering allergic and asthmatic reactions. In this study, adhesion forces of indoor office dust and activated carbon (AC, as model soot) particles to four common indoor materials (Al, Cu, PVC, a...

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Main Authors: Tan, Cher Lin Clara, Gao, Shaokai, Wee, Boon Siong, Akua, Asa-Awuku, Beng Joo, Reginald Thio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10252/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10252/1/Adhesion%20of%20Dust%20Particles%20to%20Common%20Indoor%20Surfaces%20in%20an%20Air-Conditioned%20Environment%20%28abstract%29.pdf
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author Tan, Cher Lin Clara
Gao, Shaokai
Wee, Boon Siong
Akua, Asa-Awuku
Beng Joo, Reginald Thio
author_facet Tan, Cher Lin Clara
Gao, Shaokai
Wee, Boon Siong
Akua, Asa-Awuku
Beng Joo, Reginald Thio
author_sort Tan, Cher Lin Clara
building UNIMAS Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Adhesion between dust particles and indoor surfaces can lead to negative effects on human health by triggering allergic and asthmatic reactions. In this study, adhesion forces of indoor office dust and activated carbon (AC, as model soot) particles to four common indoor materials (Al, Cu, PVC, and glass) were measured by colloidal probe atomic force microscopy. Chemical analysis of office dust shows it is largely made up of oxygenated hydrophilic organic carbon material. Both metal surfaces experienced weaker dust and AC adhesion than PVC or glass by up to 2–12 times lower primarily due to the presence of attractive electrostatic forces in the latter two (non-conducting) surfaces. Dust and AC adhesion were also highly sensitive to surface roughness, with an inverse relationship between adhesion force and roughness due to the reduction in contact area between the particle and a rougher material surface. Capillary forces play only a minor or negligible role in dust and AC surface adhesion. Adhesion models utilizing a purely van der Waals approach such as the simple Hamaker model and modified Rumpf’s model are insufficient to determine the actual particlesurface contact radii and requires the accounting of non-van der Waals forces to adhesion.
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spelling unimas-102522016-01-19T06:11:01Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10252/ Adhesion of Dust Particles to Common Indoor Surfaces in an Air-Conditioned Environment Tan, Cher Lin Clara Gao, Shaokai Wee, Boon Siong Akua, Asa-Awuku Beng Joo, Reginald Thio GE Environmental Sciences Adhesion between dust particles and indoor surfaces can lead to negative effects on human health by triggering allergic and asthmatic reactions. In this study, adhesion forces of indoor office dust and activated carbon (AC, as model soot) particles to four common indoor materials (Al, Cu, PVC, and glass) were measured by colloidal probe atomic force microscopy. Chemical analysis of office dust shows it is largely made up of oxygenated hydrophilic organic carbon material. Both metal surfaces experienced weaker dust and AC adhesion than PVC or glass by up to 2–12 times lower primarily due to the presence of attractive electrostatic forces in the latter two (non-conducting) surfaces. Dust and AC adhesion were also highly sensitive to surface roughness, with an inverse relationship between adhesion force and roughness due to the reduction in contact area between the particle and a rougher material surface. Capillary forces play only a minor or negligible role in dust and AC surface adhesion. Adhesion models utilizing a purely van der Waals approach such as the simple Hamaker model and modified Rumpf’s model are insufficient to determine the actual particlesurface contact radii and requires the accounting of non-van der Waals forces to adhesion. Taylor & Francis Group 2014 Article NonPeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10252/1/Adhesion%20of%20Dust%20Particles%20to%20Common%20Indoor%20Surfaces%20in%20an%20Air-Conditioned%20Environment%20%28abstract%29.pdf Tan, Cher Lin Clara and Gao, Shaokai and Wee, Boon Siong and Akua, Asa-Awuku and Beng Joo, Reginald Thio (2014) Adhesion of Dust Particles to Common Indoor Surfaces in an Air-Conditioned Environment. Aerosol Science and Technology, 48 (5). pp. 541-551. ISSN 1521-7388 https://scholar.google.com.my/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=KmdSVJMAAAAJ&citation_for_view=KmdSVJMAAAAJ:Wp0gIr-vW9MC DOI: 10.1080/02786826.2014.898835
spellingShingle GE Environmental Sciences
Tan, Cher Lin Clara
Gao, Shaokai
Wee, Boon Siong
Akua, Asa-Awuku
Beng Joo, Reginald Thio
Adhesion of Dust Particles to Common Indoor Surfaces in an Air-Conditioned Environment
title Adhesion of Dust Particles to Common Indoor Surfaces in an Air-Conditioned Environment
title_full Adhesion of Dust Particles to Common Indoor Surfaces in an Air-Conditioned Environment
title_fullStr Adhesion of Dust Particles to Common Indoor Surfaces in an Air-Conditioned Environment
title_full_unstemmed Adhesion of Dust Particles to Common Indoor Surfaces in an Air-Conditioned Environment
title_short Adhesion of Dust Particles to Common Indoor Surfaces in an Air-Conditioned Environment
title_sort adhesion of dust particles to common indoor surfaces in an air-conditioned environment
topic GE Environmental Sciences
url http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10252/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10252/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10252/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10252/1/Adhesion%20of%20Dust%20Particles%20to%20Common%20Indoor%20Surfaces%20in%20an%20Air-Conditioned%20Environment%20%28abstract%29.pdf