Team:BGIC-Global/Applied Design

APPLIED DESIGN

Formaldehunter
What come with our Formaldehunter kit?
* A formaldehyde detection and removal device shown above, with additional seal and a lid

* A bottle of solution (with fixed amount)

* A 3D printed funnel for water injection

* A colorimetric chart for multiple usages

* A clear and easily-understood user manual

How does Formaldehunter work?
1. It will arrive with the mix powder, and the user will need to inject the certain amount of solution we provide into the box. Shake it gently to dilute the mixed powder and then place it in the room. The engineered E.coli will grow with the nutrition provided by the culture medium. Try to gently shake the device several times a day to evenly blend the E.coli cells with the nutritious broth.

2. For the better growth of our engineered bacteria, and easier observation effect, the box was purposely made in black, except the top filter part and the bottom part. The bottom part was made in transparent color to bring some more light when the user need to observe the solution color through the window.

3. The initial color will be violet. With the growing of our E.coli cells, more & lactic acid will be produced, which leads to the gradual color change affected by the decrease of PH level. If in 24 hours, the color change has not reached the green mark on the color bar, it indicates that the product is not working properly. In this case, the user could call our customer service to ask for a return and exchange (free delivery).

4. When the growing bacteria sense the certain concentration of formaldehyde from the indoor space, it will start to generate luciferase to report, which will be visible to the user from the window. At the same time, the bacteria is degrading the formaldehyde.

5. If with the color changing of the mixed solution, no luminescence has ever been observed, then it’s perfect! No formaldehyde detected in your room! You are safe!

6. Our color bar will also help the user to decide when to replace the box (orange warning mark and red alerting mark). After use, the user need to put back the lid of the box, and ship it back to us for proper disposal.

Biosafety and responsible features of Formaldehunter!
1. We apply multiple ways to prevent the release of engineered microorganism.

- The diameter of the pores of the filter screen on top is merely 0.2um. It could still allow small molecules such as formaldehyde to enter freely, but effectively avoid the bacteria cells escaping out.

- Formaldehunter is equipped with sealing treatment, lid protection, as well as waterproof package. The freeze-dried bacteria cells will not grow without water. Therefore, there’s no chance for leaking even when unexpected accidents happen.

- We also provide the product recycle service to ensure the biosafety.

2. It might happen that the bacteria may not grow even after we try our best on the quality control. We don’t want to disappoint our customers and leave them a bad experience. Therefore we purposely designed a quality verification process for our customers, in an easy way of color identification.

3. We ensure that all the necessary info of Formaldehunter will be provided with our user manual.

We’re still working on the improvement of Formaldehunter!
1. We’re waiting for more lab data to optimizer our recipe and color bar.

2. We’re seeking for cheaper box materials.

3. We’re considering to add a venting device, for the enhancement of the air contact.