A simple novel device for air sampling by electrokinetic capture.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Microbiology
• Aerobiology
• Bioengineering

Background:

• Existing air sampling devices for microbiome studies often involve technical complexity, limiting their widespread deployment.
• There is a need for simple, easily deployable methods to collect air samples for aerobiome research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel, technically simple, and easily deployable device for collecting aerobiome samples.
• To assess the performance of an electrokinetic propulsion-based air sampler against established methods.

Main Methods:

• An air-cleaning device utilizing electrokinetic propulsion was adapted for aerobiome sampling.
• The device captures charged aerosol particles on a counter-electrode, generating airflow without moving parts.
• Performance was evaluated by comparing capture efficiency against a reference filter using fluorescent latex particles and field studies, followed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing.

Main Results:

• The electrokinetic device achieved an average airflow of 120 liters per minute, comparable to physical air pumps.
• For fungal species, qPCR analysis showed 100% sensitivity and 87% specificity compared to the reference filter.
• Bacterial community structure analysis by amplicon sequencing demonstrated equivalent results between the electrokinetic device and the reference filter, capturing particles as small as 100 nm.

Conclusions:

• The developed electrokinetic device offers a simple, plug-and-play solution for high-volume air sampling with no moving parts.
• It effectively collects particles down to the sub-micron range, suitable for aerobiome studies.
• The device's performance is substantially equivalent to traditional filter-based methods for microbiome analysis via qPCR and amplicon sequencing.