COVID-causing virus in air detected with high-tech bubbles

Scientists have shown that they can detect SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in the air by using a nanotechnology-packed bubble that spills its chemical contents like a broken pi?ata when encountering the virus.

Such a detector could be positioned on a wall or ceiling, or in an air duct, where there's constant air movement, to alert occupants immediately when even a trace level of the virus is present.

A team of scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory created a new kind of micelle, one that is stamped on the surface with copies of an imprinted particle for SARS-CoV-2. The team filled micelles with a salt capable of creating an electronic signal but that is quiescent when packed inside a micelle. When a viral particle interacts with one of the imprinted receptors on the surface, the micelle pops open, spilling the salt and sending out an electronic signal instantly.

The system acts like a signal magnifier, translating the presence of one viral particle into 10 billion molecules that together create a detectable signal. The developers say that the detector has advantages over today's technologies; it produces a signal faster, requires a much lower level of viral particles, or produces fewer errors.

First author Samuel Morrison a former Marine, began this line of work hoping to develop a new way to help soldiers quickly detect explosives in combat. He connected with Hubbard, an expert in nanosynthesis. They switched the focus of the project to SARS-CoV-2 when the pandemic hit. Other possible uses of the technology include detection of fentanyl and environmental toxins.

Image source: Hubbard et al. (2022), MRS Communications.