A replaceable bioreactor array for monitoring mold spore contamination in archives

We present a sensor system with a replaceable bioreactor array for autonomous detection of mold spores inside archives. Airborne mold spores entering archives, e.g. through air ventilation systems or via human intervention, could germinate by decomposing books, papers, or other stored organic material present within the archives. Once contaminated with mold, it either leads to huge expenses to restore the infested material or in some cases it could lead to complete loss of material. In addition, the exposure to high concentrations of spores is linked to severe respiratory illnesses in humans and animals. Therefore, the monitoring of mold spore concentrations in archives is of great importance allowing real-time intervention to prevent further contamination. In this work, we demonstrate an on-site autonomous mold sensor system with an integrated air-sampling unit to analyse the growth of mold. The sensor system comprises of a membrane sealed bioreactor array, an air-sampling unit for directing the spores into the bioreactors and readout electronics. At the desired time of measurement, the bioreactor is activated by opening the membrane with a short current pulse. Once the membrane is opened the spores from an air sample get in contact with the culture medium and start to grow, which is later quantified with an integrated approach of impedance and colorimetric method.