Special issue  

We present a photoacoustic sensor enabling fast, inexpensive, and highly sensitive methane detection in environmental monitoring applications. Six different T-cell designs were both theoretically and experimentally investigated. The aim was to understand the photoacoustic signal generation and resonances in relation to the different cell geometries, and determine the long-term stability and the detection limits for methane. These were below the methane background concentration in air of 1.8 ppm.

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is a widely used tool to analyze thermal material properties. This study focuses on the advancement of a miniaturized DSC chip as an alternative to conventional devices. The first development steps for the integration of a weighing system are shown, starting with model considerations and simulation-based optimization to initial measurements. Three different measurement methods are investigated and show promising results.