Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a device which is being touted as an artificial nose. In the research publish this month in Nature Chemistry, the device can ‘smell’ noxious gases and identify hazardous chemicals like hydrogen cyanide in less than two minutes and with high accuracy.

The research was led by Kenneth Suslick who made a similar device that could differentiate between 18 beers. The new artificial nose consists of a small array of 36 dyes printed on glass, paper or plastic and which react to the chemicals resulting in a different pattern of coloured dots depending on the chemical present. The pattern would be matched to a database that would reveal which chemical is present in the atmosphere. The size of the device means that the device is wearable and current testing shows the device is extremely accurate as well.

The researchers believe that the artificial nose could provide chemists or first responders to chemical spills with a detector that can alert them to the presence of noxious chemicals in the atmosphere, in which case it would be an important safety device.

Via: Wired