We aim to establish a world–class Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Laboratory at HKUST, which is equipped with cutting-edge instruments and operated with the world premier standards of protocols for sampling, analysis and quality assurance.

VOCs are emitted by many different processes (e.g., vehicle, industrial, solvent, plants). The presence of some VOC gases can significantly increase the secondary formation of ozone and particulate matter even at very low concentrations (i.e., pptv). Some VOC species (i.e., CFCs, HCFCs) are referred to as Green House Gas (GHG) and Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) due to their important global environmental threats (i.e., climate change, stratospheric ozone loss). Have trace-level analytical capability of VOC is critical to narrow down the contributing sources to the reactive VOC emission, so that control and reduction of ozone and PM pollution is possible.

With the expansion of the monitoring and sample handling capacity of the VOC Laboratory and the public policy expertise within AIS, it is aimed to translate the findings into recommendation of regulation, legislature and policy making for the Greater Bay Area. This will ensure good air quality of the region and applicable policy for the rest of China. The technology developed for emission detection can also be applied in other areas beyond air quality and climate source identification like medical diagnosis and pathological analysis based on volatiles emission from human.

The VOC Laboratory is under good progress and expected to be finished by Spring 2021.