There is an urgent need to increase access to appropriate sanitation of human waste in developing countries. However, malodor nuisance is a major risk factor in the adoption of effective sanitation technologies. Foul-smelling sanitation facilities encourage people to practice open defecation in developing countries. Our work focuses on the mitigation of the most common and prevalent odorant molecules in human waste. These molecules consist mainly of carbon backbone endings with functional groups such as aldehydes, alcohols, or ketones. The odorant perception of these molecules can be changed to more pleasant smells by simply applying an electrical signal to the offending liquid/gas source.

We propose to demonstrate the capability to modulate malodor and generate a pleasant olfactory perception. This is achieved simply by applying an electrical signal to the offending liquid/gas source to induce an electrochemical reaction. Results suggest that butyric acid, which has a rancid smell and is used as a case study, can be selectively modified to lead to a more pleasant odorous composition, thanks in part to the production of butanal, a molecule with a fruity-strawberry like smell.