Glass fibre filter (GF) and quartz filter papers are frequently used for PM collection. You can perform both SEM and PM component analysis (Heavy metals by acid digested and analyzed by ICP-MS or by AAS and PAH by GC) by both GF and quartz filters. PTFE filter is good for elemental analysis by XRD although GF filters are also extensively used. Quartz filters are mostly used for organic and elemental carbon estimation.

For SEM analyses, you want a really smooth filter surface to be able to see the particles in the best way possible (even the finest ones).

Polycarbonate membrane filters are nice in this way.

I would advise you to choose the best filter for each analysis and sample on multiple channels :

- Polycarbonate for SEM and µXRD

- Glass or quartz fibers for PAH

- Polycarbonate and PTFE both work for trace metals through ICP-MS.

I hope this will help you !

Well,

A - Sand particles: They are particles suspended in the air and more than 500 microns, mainly from sand storms.

B - Dust: The particles are finer than the sand, suspended in the air, a diameter ranging from 0.25 - 500 microns, resulting from the fragmentation of solid objects and their volatilization to the atmosphere.

C - Smoke: very fine particles of fumes caused by combustion processes as in the smoke of factories, laboratories and houses, diameter less than 2 microns.

D - Ashes: These minutes are emitted with flue gas and may carry with it unburned fuel.

E - Spray: droplets of liquid suspended in the air, and can be seen with the naked eye, and may consist of fog and smoke formed of smog, and consists of a fog of mist, dust and polluted gases, and creates a fog in the visibility in the polluted cities.

F) Metal vapors: They are particles of metals and organic matter, ranging in diameter from 0.01-1 microns.

G. Aerosols: Solid or liquid particles, often suspended in the air due to their small size, and generally less than a micron in diameter.

Sincerely

AFA-HA20 filter and analyzed by ICP-MS

Thank you every one.