Does anyone know of a small particulate matter sensor? Looking for something in this form factor: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3660
I'm trying to make a portable air quality monitor but the particulate sensors I've seen are all pretty huge.
They tend to be big for a good reason: the method of detection.
Light scattering detectors need a completely dark chamber with room for emitter and detector, plus passages for air to get in and out (and maybe a fan to facilitate the movement).
Yes, for various values of "big". All integrated particle sensors I'm aware of are still very portable. So OP needs to define what restriction he has in mind.
I stated in the original post what size I was looking for.
Good luck finding something that small.
There is a big difference. The size of a gas molecule or water vapour molecule is very small, and they are very mobile, so they can enter a sensor through a small hole with no assistance.
A PM sensor needs a fan to draw the gas (or liquid) through. Then you can catch the pm in a filter and weigh it; or - as this unit does - use light scattering from the particles.
To get useful results you need a good airflow and a "large" chamber with external light excluded.
Perhaps this approach would give a smaller sensor - but you still need the fan and a good airflow
The DFRobot PM2.5 sensor is one of the smaller ones I know that delivers quality results. If it's 4 x 6cm is too big for you, your project will probably fail, as you don't accept physical laws (or you know of a way to detect these particles nobody else yet thought of).
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