Self-driven and sustainable removal of oil spills in water using bio-inspired textiles

18-Dec-2023 - Researchers at the ITA, the University of Bonn and Heimbach GmbH have developed a new method for removing oil spills from water surfaces in an energy-saving, cost-effective way and without the use of toxic substances. The method is made possible by a technical textile that is integrated into a ...

Startup HyPhoX develops miniaturized biosensors with support from BAM

"The innovative thing about our sensor is that we combine optical, electrical and biochemical analytics on one chip, and we do it in a handy, portable device"

23-Oct-2023 - Toxic substances, viruses and other microorganisms are a danger to humans and the environment. A team of founders from the Leibniz Institute for Innovative Microelectronics (IHP) and the Technical University of Wildau, with the support of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing ...

Making Drinking Water Bacteria-Free

Efficient disinfection of water with silver sulfide quantum dots in a peptide coat

02-Mar-2023 - Water contaminated with bacteria is a large threat to global health. A Chinese research team has described a simple new method of disinfection in the journal Angewandte Chemie. It is based on tiny biocompatible assemblies of atoms, known as quantum dots, made of silver sulfide with caps made of a ...

Food decontamination spray deploys "billions of tiny soldiers"

Researchers harness bacteria-eating viruses to create a powerful new weapon against contamination and infection

08-Dec-2022 - Researchers at McMaster University have created a powerful new weapon against bacterial contamination and infection. They have developed a way to coax bacteriophages – harmless viruses that eat bacteria – into linking together and forming microscopic beads. Those beads can safely be applied to ...

Sniffing out carcinogens in foodstuffs

Andrea Hochegger, an analytical chemist at TU Graz, investigates whether foodstuffs can be tainted with harmful substances from packaging or during production

27-Sep-2022 - Andrea Hochegger’s current research focus is the question of contamination with mineral oil hydrocarbons. “We break up complex mixtures into MOSH and MOAH fractions,” Andrea explains. These are groups of chemical compounds found in mineral oil. MOSH stands for mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons ...

Firefly Luminescence Reveals Pesticides

Luciferin synthesis and organophosphate detection by a luminescent enzymatic cascade

16-Mar-2022 - A luminescence reaction modeled on fireflies can detect contamination with organophosphates with high sensitivity, ease, and low cost. At the center of this technology is a new enzymatic method for the synthesis of analogues of luciferin, the substance that makes fireflies glow. As reported by a ...

Aviation safety: Rapid test for harmful microbes in kerosene developed

Faster and more robust than a PCR test

12-Apr-2021 - Fuels such as kerosene or diesel can be contaminated by fungi or bacteria. The microorganisms settle in the liquid itself, on the inner walls of tanks and pipes or in fuel filters and feed on carbon atoms. Since the fungi and bacteria multiply well in this environment, they can form a streaky ...

Natural UV radiation in winter not strong enough against SARS-CoV-2

In winter the virus has a good chance of survival outside

18-Nov-2020 - The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 poses a threat to human health both indoors and outdoors. Besides direct infection from respiratory droplets and aerosols, another mode of transmission involves airborne viruses that linger in the air before settling on and contaminating surfaces. A ...

Deep learning enables early detection and classification of live bacteria using holography

Development of an AI-powered smart imaging system for early-detection and classification of live bacteria in water samples

15-Jul-2020 - Waterborne diseases affect more than 2 billion people worldwide, causing substantial economic burden. For example, the treatment of waterborne diseases costs more than $2 billion annually in the United States alone, with 90 million cases recorded per year. Among waterborne pathogen-related ...

Biofilms - an invisible threat to food safety

Hotspots for biofilms

08-Jul-2020 - Biofilms are potential sources of contamination in the food industry. A recent study by the FFoQSI Competence Center at the Vetmeduni Vienna investigated where they hide and what bacteria can be found in them. Biofilms can cause additional costs in production and are a source of danger to ...