Open Journal of Air Pollution, 2018, 7, 95-106 http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojap ISSN Online: 2169-2661 ISSN Print: 2169-2653 DOI: 10.4236/ojap.2018.72005 Jun. 14, 2018 95 Open Journal of Air Pollution Chemical and Morphological Characteristics of Particulate Matter Suspended in the Air of the Dhaka University Area of Bangladesh Muhammad Nurul Huda 1* , Shahid Akhtar Hossain 2 , Md Mominul Islam 3 , Md Fakrul Islam 1 1 Air Quality Research and Monitoring Laboratory, Centre for Advanced Research in Sciences University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh 2 Department of Soil Water and Environment, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh 3 Department of Chemistry, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh Abstract Total suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the urban atmosphere of Dhaka city was collected using a high volume sampling technique for a period of one month (August 2017-September 2017). Chemical characterization of particu- late matter (PM) was investigated, and characterized concerning the size dis- tribution, morphological features such as count, total area, average size, peri- meter, circularity, aspect ratio (AR), roundness; equivalent spherical diameter (ESD), surface area and volume of PM. The results of elemental analysis showed that the presence of heavy metal in PM was ten to hundred times higher than the standard value prescribed by WHO and USEPA. Several morphological analysis indicated that particles varying in shape from nearly spherical to various irregular shape, had higher surface energy, higher content of Cl and S bearing particles and had a large surface area which can cause greater damage to lungs. The presence of various organic compounds con- taining functional groups like alcohols, ketones aldehydes, carboxylic acids as well as unsaturated and saturated carbon bonds was observed by FT-IR analy- sis. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the mor- phology of the PM. Agglomerates and shoots type particles were mostly seen in SPM. Keywords Particulate Matter, Fine Particle, Morphology, Heavy Metal, Scanning Electron Microscope 1. Introduction Air pollution is a pressing issue in Bangladesh which is ranked 169th out of 178 How to cite this paper: Huda, M.N., Hos- sain, S.A., Islam, M.M. and Islam, M.F. (2018) Chemical and Morphological Cha- racteristics of Particulate Matter Suspended in the Air of the Dhaka University Area of Bangladesh. Open Journal of Air Pollution, 7, 95-106. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojap.2018.72005 Received: February 7, 2018 Accepted: June 11, 2018 Published: June 14, 2018 Copyright © 2018 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access