CO₂ sensors in smartphones and wearables for on-the-spot control of environmental conditions 

CO₂ concentration is an important indicator of indoor air quality because high CO₂ concentrations affect both health and productivity. Air conditioning and ventilation systems typically use pyroelectric detectors or thermopiles in CO₂ sensors to monitor indoor air quality. Due to their large size and high energy consumption, those detectors cannot be integrated into consumer devices.

By employing trinamiX PbSe detectors, CO₂ concentration measurement systems can become 8 times smaller than currently available systems – without compromising on accuracy and even reducing power consumption by a factor of 16. Thus, smartphones and wearables can now be equipped with real time CO₂ monitoring to track air quality at home, in the office or while travelling.

CO₂ measurement in capnography 

Capnography is the monitoring of the respiratory pattern via the concentration measurement of CO₂ in breath gases. It is used as a vital monitoring tool in intensive care units. For exact and timely measurements, both a fast measurement rate and a high sensitivity of the infrared detector in the system are must-have requirements.

PbSe detectors can quickly sense even slight fluctuations in CO₂ concentration using Non-Dispersive Infrared (NDIR) spectroscopy. trinamiX PbSe detectors have a high detectivity and a unique encapsulation for chip-size integration. This allows capnography systems to be designed significantly smaller, faster and more reliable.

“Capnography systems are decisive instruments in the current COVID-19 pandemic. Our PbSe detectors are perfectly suited to this application thanks to our large-scale manufacturing capabilities combined with excellent quality standards at our production site in Germany,” said Dr. Sebastian Valouch, Head of Sales and Product Development IR Sensor Solutions at trinamiX GmbH.

Design-in support and white paper 

CO₂ measurement systems use Non-Dispersive Infrared (NDIR) spectroscopy to non-invasively detect gas concentrations. trinamiX provides design-in support for the manufacturers of such systems.

A detailed technical white paper on the use of trinamiX PbSe detectors in NDIR spectroscopy may be downloaded here.