Self-Driven Pretreatment and Room-Temperature Storage of Water Samples for Virus Detection Using Enhanced Porous Superabsorbent Polymer (PSAP) Beads

The continuous emergence of infectious viral diseases has become a major threat to public health. To quantify viruses, proper handling of water samples is required to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the testing results. In this study, we develop enhanced porous superabsorbent polymer (PSAP) beads to pretreat and store water samples for virus detection. By applying PSAP beads to collect water samples, the viruses are captured and encapsulated inside the beads while undesired components are excluded. We have successfully demonstrated that the shelf life of the model virus can be effectively extended at room temperature (22 °C) and an elevated temperature (35 °C). Both the infectivity level and genome abundance of the viruses are preserved even in a complex medium such as untreated wastewater. Under the tested conditions, the viral degradation rate constant can be reduced to more than 10 times using the PSAP beads. Therefore, the enhanced PSAP beads provide a low-cost and efficient sample pretreatment and storage method that is feasible and practical for large-scale surveillance of viral pathogens in water samples.