Biodegradable napkin -- featuring sensitive nanofibers -- may quickly detect biohazards

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Sep 12, 2006, 10:10:29 AM9/12/06

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Biodegradable napkin -- featuring sensitive nanofibers -- may quickly
detect biohazards
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ITHACA, N.Y. -- Detecting bacteria, viruses and other dangerous
substances in hospitals, airplanes and other commonly contaminated
places could soon be as easy as wiping a napkin or paper towel across a
surface, says a researcher from Cornell University.

"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 Margaret Frey, the Lois and Mel Tukman Assistant Professor
of Fiber Science and Apparel Design at Cornell. "So if you're 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 research at the American Chemical Society's national meeting
today (Sept. 11) in San Francisco.

Once fully developed, the biodegradable absorbent wipe would contain
nanofibers containing antibodies to numerous biohazards and chemicals
and would signal by changing color or through another effect when the
antibodies attached to their targets. Users would simply wipe the
napkin across a surface; if a biohazard were detected, the surface
could be disinfected and retested with another napkin to be sure it was
no longer contaminated.

In work conducted with Yong Joo, assistant professor of chemical and
biomolecular engineering, and Antje Baeumner, associate professor of
biological and environmental engineering, both at Cornell, Frey
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, the
nanofibers could be incorporated into conventional paper products to
keep costs low. Nanofibers, with diameters near 100 nanometers (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.

"The fabric basically acts as a sponge that you can use to dip in a
liquid or wipe across a surface," Frey said. "As you do that,
antibodies in the fabric are going to selectively latch onto whatever
pathogen that they match. 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."

Frey and her colleagues are still working on ways, such as a color
change, for the fabric to signal that it has identified the
contaminant.

"We're probably still a few years away from having this ready for the
real world," Frey said, "but I really believe there is a place for this
type of product that can be used by people with limited training to
provide a fast indication of whether a biohazard is present."