[ad_1]
Graphene is great. A single layer of graphite with its atoms arranged in a hexagonal honeycomb pattern, graphene is capable of a plethora of amazing feats – creating stronger armor than diamonds to that of acting as a superconductor until the filtration of the whiskey color.
Now researchers have discovered the last superpower of graphene – and it's a doozy. As part of a research funded by the National Institutes of Health, researchers have discovered that graphene could be used as an alternative to insect repellent to keep mosquitoes away. It turns out that dry graphene film appears to interfere with the ability of mosquitoes to detect skin and perspiration, thus preventing them from being attracted to humans as moving fountains. Graphene film is also a barrier that mosquitoes are unable to penetrate.
"Graphene films are ultra-thin and ultra-lightweight and are already being explored for various functions in wearable technologies," Robert Hurt, Director of the Superfund Research Program at Brown University, told Digital Trends. one of the project researchers. "Our goal was to see if these graphene films could also provide protection against mosquito bites, given that there is a general interest in alternative approaches to tissue treatment with chemical repellents. We find that graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide films both stop mosquito bites, but the main mechanism is not the puncture resistance but a concealment property. chemical preventing mosquitoes from accessing the chemical signals that they use to find a host and initiate the bite. "
Although the chemical-free nature of the product is certainly exciting, the researchers have not yet directly compared the effectiveness of graphene with some of the more conventional mosquito repellents, such as DEET. Hurt said this would be "an important next step".
In terms of how this research could one day be marketed, he has some ideas. "Our document is a fundamental scientific document, but we can consider applications in improved fabrics for clothing, uniforms and gloves used in areas at high risk of mosquito-borne infectious diseases," he said. "Of course, it will take more work to develop and evaluate such technologies – and we hope this work will be done in our lab or elsewhere."
An article describing the work was recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Publishers recommendations
[ad_2]
Source link