Prussian blue nanocrystals detect bird flu

There is a need for rapid and sensitive detection of avian influenza due to recent outbreaks.

A low-cost prototype sensor can detect the virus at levels below an infectious dose and could lead to rapid aerosol testing for bird flu.

The electrochemical capacitive biosensor (ECB) consists of a thin network of Prussian blue nanocrystals and graphene oxide branches on a screen-printed carbon electrode.

The sensor is paired with a custom-built air sampler that pulls in droplets from the air and creates a liquid sample. Probes that are sensitive to the H5N1 viruses are attached to the network and change capacitance when the virus is detected. By measuring the total change in capacitance, the levels of H5N1 can be detected in the liquid sample.

The virus frequently mutates, increasing the risk of an outbreak and current methods, like a polymerase chain reaction-based test, requires extensive preparation in a laboratory. Demonstrations showed the ECB produced results within five minutes.

The research is published in ACS Sensors and is Open Access.