Peelable UV-Cured Gel for Trace Analyte Sampling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cotton swipe and swab-based methods for environmental sampling are inefficient, often losing analytes during transport and storage, and are unsuitable for accurate detection of trace amounts of CBRNE materials, especially on porous surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A kit using a rapidly curable liquid gel with a polymer precursor mixture, additives, and a UV light source for rapid curing to form a peelable sampling film that enhances analyte extraction and retention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If cotton swipe or swab is used to collect analyte from surface, then the collection process is simple and quick, but the collection efficiency is low (10% or less) and analyte is lost during transport
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible peelable film that conforms to the surface geometry to collect analytes. The film is applied directly to the surface, cured to adhere, then peeled off as a complete sample layer, preventing analyte loss during transport while maintaining simple operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The peelable film is composed of multiple layers including an adhesive layer, a support layer, and optionally a release layer. This composite structure provides both strong adhesion for efficient analyte collection and easy removal for sample preservation during transport.
2Ease of operation
If dry cotton swipe is used to collect analyte, then the storage and transport are convenient, but the analyte is shaken off the loose cotton matrix resulting in further loss
Solution Approach 1:
The cured peelable film forms a solid, flexible layer that encapsulates the analyte completely. This solid structure prevents analyte loss during transport while maintaining ease of storage and handling, unlike loose cotton matrices.
3Ease of operation
If cotton swipe is used on porous surfaces like wood, concrete, or fabric, then the sampling process is simple, but the collection efficiency is substantially or practically zero for analytes embedded in surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible peelable film conforms to complex surface geometries including porous surfaces like wood, concrete, and fabric. When cured, it adheres to and captures analytes embedded in these surfaces, then peels off as a complete sample, maintaining both operational simplicity and high collection efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The film is applied to the surface before analyte transfer occurs. The film cures in place to capture analytes as they are present on or in the surface, rather than attempting to transfer them afterward, ensuring complete collection even from porous materials.
4Productivity
If rapid curing is implemented using UV light source, then the sampling time is reduced and efficiency improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces thermal or chemical curing methods with UV photopolymerization. This allows rapid curing (seconds to minutes) using a portable UV light source, dramatically improving sampling efficiency while keeping the device relatively simple and portable.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution significantly improves sampling efficiency and reduces analyte loss, enabling effective collection and preservation of trace amounts of chemicals, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive materials from various surfaces, including porous ones.
Implementation Method 1
The rapidly curable liquid gel may include a photoinitiator compound. In some embodiments, the photoinitiator compound may absorb UV light around 365 nm and/or 395 nm.
Implementation Method 2
the polymer precursor mixture may include an acrylic resin that is polymerized on exposure to water vapor
Data Source
AI summary
A rapidly curable liquid gel for collecting an analyte from a sampling surface includes a polymer precursor mixture including a monomer and/or an oligomer; and an additive to enhance extraction of the analyte from the sampling surface. A kit for collecting an analyte from a sampling surface may include the rapidly curable liquid gel and a portable device for rapidly curing the gel. The rapidly curable liquid gel is cured to thereby form a peelable sampling film, and the sampling film is removed from the sampling surface, thereby collecting the analyte. In one embodiment, the rapidly curable liquid gel is UV-curable, the polymer precursor mixture further includes a photoinitiator compound, and the portable device includes a UV light source configured to emit UV light of a wavelength range absorbed by the photoinitiator compound.