the partector - the world's smallest nanoparticle detector

Ambient monitoring

The naneos partector is being used by the federal institute of technology Lausanne (EPFL) to monitor urban air quality in Lausanne. 10 instruments have been mounted on buses of Lausanne public transport, and their measurements are being transmitted via mobile phone network to the EPFL servers. The partector is ideally suited for this kind of deployment, because it needs very little maintenance. Download a poster of the EPFL research group

The naneos partector was used for drone-based measurements along Switzerland's main north-south transit route, the Gotthard highway. Due to its light weight, the partector is ideally suited for such applications. View the report

Workplace

Avantama is a spinoff of the Swiss federal institute of technology Zürich (ETHZ), specializing in the production of custom nanoparticles. Since only little is known on nanoparticle toxicitiy with the exception of some well-studied reference materials, they are leaving nothing to chance: a naneos partector is wall-mounted at their nanoparticle production facility and will alert them if there is a leak where nanoparticles are being released.

Laser machining is a fascinating technology, but a lot of nanoparticles are produced in the process. Our devices have been used to measure nanoparticle levels inside the processing chamber, and to verify that no particles escape into the workplace.

3D printing is another modern technology that has the potential to release nanoparticles. The partector was used within the EU project DiMAP to measure nanoparticle emissions of 3D printers.

Personal exposure

With the partector, it is extremely easy to map your personal exposure to nanoparticles: Our software allows you to combine a GPS track (from any GPS device) with the partector data, and output graphs like this one, from Helsinki.

More Applications

Here are a few scientific projects that have been carried out with our devices.

Science