The highly sensitive face mask can detect the new bug in the air and alert the user via an app on their phone. It can also catch swine flu and bird flu. These diseases are spread through airborne droplets released by infected people when they talk, cough or sneeze. Tiny, invisible molecules can remain suspended in the air for a long time, and people catch diseases by breathing in a large cluster of molecules. Researchers in China tested the mask in a closed chamber by spraying liquid containing virus proteins onto the face covering. The sensor responded to just 0.3 microliters of liquid. This is between 70 and 560 times less than the amount of fluid produced by a sneeze and even less than the amount produced by coughing or talking. The sensor contains aptamers, a type of synthetic molecule that can recognize proteins in pathogens. The research model was tested with aptamers that can recognize Covid, swine flu and bird flu. Once the aptamers attached to the viral proteins in the air, an ion-gate transistor alerted users to the pathogens via their phones.
