Some clients just don’t know when they’ve had too much sun. Luckily, researchers have their back with a new single-use, disposable sunburn sensor printed on paper. The materials were unveiled by J. Justin Gooding and fellow researchers from the University of New South Wales in the journal ACS Sensors.
What’s In It
Unlike other wearable sun sensors, this sensor is neither high-tech and expensive nor comprised of harmful materials. Rather, this sensor and made of food dye, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)_and titanium dioxide, which are safe and inexpensive. And, get this; the materials are printed onto the paper with an ink jet printer.
How It Works
Titanium dioxide serves as a photo catalyst on the sensor to degrade the food dyes, which results in discoloration of the film. The PVP is a binder that allows for film formation. Dye discoloration in the sensor is a warning to people that it is time to apply more sunscreen or get out of the sun. By adding UV neutral density filters, wearers can adjust the filter depending on their skin tone and amount of sunscreen applied to speed up or slow the coloration time of the sensor for accurate information.
Since it is in the development phase, the sensor probably won’t be available on the mass market for quite some time. However, its launch is one more step towards decreasing the rate of skin cancer.
