Formaldehyde in the Environment – Determination of Formaldehyde by Laser and Photoacoustic Detection

Abstract

This work concerns the role of formaldehyde in the environment and describes the basic indoor and outdoor detection techniques. One of the laboratory techniques, laser photoacoustic spectroscopy, was used for detection of formaldehyde based on its absorption spectrum in a region around 4350 cm⁻¹. A new type of diode laser (GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb − MQW) operating at room temperature in combination with a simple resonance photoacoustic cell provides the minimum detectable signal of formaldehyde, ca. 1250 μg m⁻³, at 4356 cm⁻¹