Lance Hubbard tests PNNL’s coronavirus detection system while Samuel Morrison (l) and Caleb Allen (c) look on. Credit: Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Key Points:
- A newly created nanotechnology-packed bubble could alert people to the presence of SARS-CoV-2.
- The technology could be incorporated into a wall or air duct detector to alert occupants immediately when even a trace level of the virus is present.
- The heart of the nanotechnology is a micelle, a molecular structure composed of oils, fats and sometimes water with inner space that can be filled with air or another substance.
Imagine sitting in a waiting room and all of a sudden, an alarm goes off—not a phone alarm or a fire alarm, but a SARS-CoV-2 alarm. This could one day be possible with new technology created by scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).
In a new study published in MRS Communications, researchers have shown they can detect SARS-CoV-2 in the air by using a nanotechnology-packed bubble that spills its chemical contents like a broken piñata 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.
The heart of the nanotechnology is a micelle, a molecular structure composed of oils, fats and sometimes water with inner space that can be filled with air or another substance. Micelles are often used to deliver anticancer drugs in the body and are a staple in soaps and detergents.
The PNNL micelle is bilayer, with one polymer-coated micelle inside the other, and the entire structure immersed in water. Each micelle is about 5 microns wide. On the outer surface are several imprinted particles, made of silica, about 500 nanometers wide. Each imprint is an opportunity for a COVID-causing viral particle to bind, causing the bilayer micelle to pop open.
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.
“Combining micelles with a technology to imprint or stamp them is not something many people have done before,” said PNNL scientist Lance Hubbard, a nanotechnology specialist and an author of the paper. “Imprinting a molecule with our molecule of interest inserts a vulnerability into the micelle—which is what we want in this case.”
The researchers originally began this line of research hoping to develop a new way to help soldiers quickly detect explosives in combat. They switched the focus of the project to SARS-CoV-2 when the pandemic hit; but, the initial purpose is still a possibility, as well as others like the detection of fentanyl and environmental toxins.
Battelle, which manages and operates PNNL for DOE, has filed for a patent on the technology.
Information provided by PNNL.