06 May 2022
On 5 May 2022 TH Köln, partner of intelWATT project took part at the Workshop organized by the Faculty of Applied Sciences. As part of this year’s Cologne Children’s University, school children from the third to sixth grades were able to pursue their interest in chemistry using the question “How are corona quick tests made from trees?”.
The afternoon began with a short lecture that delved into the physical principles on which rapid tests work. The focus has therefore been on how a tree can ultimately become a functional membrane to be used in such rapid tests. These insights sparked enthusiasm and also raised many questions for later discussion.
Accompanied by doctoral students and employees of TH Köln, the young researchers got active after the lesson and put their new knowledge into practice directly in the laboratory. In small groups, they made their own membranes from cellulose acetate using the precipitation bath process. They followed the process of membrane formation and discussed their observations. Of course, the students also examined the membranes for their suitability for rapid tests by comparing their absorbency on a test bench.
