Spider Silk-Improved Quartz-Enhanced Conductance Spectroscopy for Medical Mask Humidity Sensing

Leqing Lin; Yu Zhong; Haoyang Lin; Chenglong Wang; Zhifei Yang; Qian Wu; Di Zhang; Wenguo Zhu; Yongchun Zhong; Yuwei Pan; Jianhui Yu; Huadan Zheng

doi:10.3390/molecules27134320

Molecules (Jul 2022)

Spider Silk-Improved Quartz-Enhanced Conductance Spectroscopy for Medical Mask Humidity Sensing

Leqing Lin,
Yu Zhong,
Haoyang Lin,
Chenglong Wang,
Zhifei Yang,
Qian Wu,
Di Zhang,
Wenguo Zhu,
Yongchun Zhong,
Yuwei Pan,
Jianhui Yu,
Huadan Zheng

Affiliations

Leqing Lin: Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information and Sensing Technologies of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Department of Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Yu Zhong: Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information and Sensing Technologies of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Department of Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Haoyang Lin: Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information and Sensing Technologies of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Department of Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Chenglong Wang: Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information and Sensing Technologies of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Department of Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Zhifei Yang: Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information and Sensing Technologies of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Department of Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Qian Wu: Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information and Sensing Technologies of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Department of Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Di Zhang: College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510630, China
Wenguo Zhu: Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information and Sensing Technologies of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Department of Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Yongchun Zhong: Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information and Sensing Technologies of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Department of Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Yuwei Pan: Department of Preventive Treatment of Disease, The Affiliated TCM Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510405, China
Jianhui Yu: Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information and Sensing Technologies of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Department of Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Huadan Zheng: Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information and Sensing Technologies of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Department of Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27134320
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 27, no. 13
p. 4320

Abstract

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Spider silk is one of the hottest biomaterials researched currently, due to its excellent mechanical properties. This work reports a novel humidity sensing platform based on a spider silk-modified quartz tuning fork (SSM-QTF). Since spider silk is a kind of natural moisture-sensitive material, it does not demand additional sensitization. Quartz-enhanced conductance spectroscopy (QECS) was combined with the SSM-QTF to access humidity sensing sensitively. The results indicate that the resonance frequency of the SSM-QTF decreased monotonously with the ambient humidity. The detection sensitivity of the proposed SSM-QTF sensor was 12.7 ppm at 1 min. The SSM-QTF sensor showed good linearity of ~0.99. Using this sensor, we successfully measured the humidity of disposable medical masks for different periods of wearing time. The results showed that even a 20 min wearing time can lead to a >70% humidity in the mask enclosed space. It is suggested that a disposable medical mask should be changed <2 h.

Published in Molecules

ISSN: 1420-3049 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Chemistry: Organic chemistry
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules

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