Biodegradable Napkin Rapidly Detects Biohazards

Users would simply wipe the napkin across a surface; if a biohazard is detected, the surface could be disinfected and retested with another napkin to be sure it is no longer contaminated.

Prof. Frey and colleagues developed nanofibers with platforms made of biotin, a part of the B vitamin complex, and the protein streptavidin, which can hold the antibodies. Composed of a polymer compound made from corn, they intend to incorporate nanofibers into conventional paper products to keep costs low. Nanofibers, with diameters near 100 nm (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, or about three times the diameter of an atom), provide extremely large surface areas for sensing and increased absorbency, compared with conventional fibers.

"It's very inexpensive, it wouldn't require that someone be highly trained to use it, and it could be activated for whatever you want to find,” said Prof. Frey, "So if you are working in a meat-packing plant, for instance, you could swipe it across some hamburger and quickly and easily detect E coli bacteria.” She reported on the study at the American Chemical Society's national meeting in September 2006, in San Francisco (CA, USA). "Using this method we should, in theory, be able to quickly activate the fabric to detect whatever is the hazard of the week, whether it is bird flu, mad cow disease, or anthrax.”



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