Smart card system for on-site detection of mould spores

Mould fungi are part of our living environment and their spores are therefore also present in all indoor spaces. However, mould infestation caused by the growth of mould fungi indoors due to increased moisture poses a hygiene and health problem, especially as different species sometimes dominate in buildings than in the natural environment.

The aim is to detect the formation of mould at an early stage without an additional analysis step. This offers a decisive advantage over established systems in terms of recognising the danger at a very early stage. This is where the greatest innovation potential of this development lies. The proposed solution aims to find out how mould growth can be detected using a simple detection mechanism and how it can be integrated into a system. In the proposed project, the individual functional components are to be combined on a polymer carrier (the size of a smart card).

Until now, mould detection systems have only recorded the temperature, humidity and monitored the dew point without directly detecting mould growth. The great advantage of direct mould detection is that the previous biohygrothermal growth models, which require the sufficient presence of mould spores, are no longer required. The existing systems do not work independently and are comparatively very expensive.

This project is funded as part of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's internal programmes.