The coronavirus pandemic has made us all think twice before touching any surface in a public space. But new research at Virginia Tech aims to make it safe to touch things once again.
Image credits Saeed Behzadinasab et al., (2020), ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces.
The team has developed a new coating that can be applied to common surfaces that see heavy use, such as door knobs, light switches, or shopping carts. This coating then quickly inactivates any SARS-CoV-2 viral particles that fall on it, preventing its spread.
Such a coating can be useful both in public and in our homes, as the coronavirus has been shown to pollute the living space of infected people.
Safe to touch
“Everyone is concerned about touching objects that may have the coronavirus,” says William Ducker, a professor of chemical engineering at Virginia Tech, who led the research. “It would help people to relax a little bit.”
“The idea is that when the drops fall on a solid object, the virus inside the drops will be deactivated.”
The virus’s ability to live on various surfaces for long periods of time creates opportunities for it to spread in society through contact with objects that we touch every day.
Ducker has worked in the development of coatings that kill bacteria in the past. He started working on this new virus-killing coat in March, after taking a walk with his wife, who asked if he should sit on a bench during the pandemic. The idea behind the coating is to destroy or prevent the coronavirus particles it comes in contact with from infecting other people.
Laboratory tests of the coating have produced extremely good results, reports Ducker. When applied to glass or stainless steel, it removed 99.9% of the viral particles in a single hour (compared to an uncoated sample). The shorter tests, aimed at determining coating efficiency for intervals of less than an hour, are underway, he adds. Ducker is confident that the coating can inactivate the virus in minutes.
Laboratory tests also showed that this coating is robust and does not peel off after cutting with a razor blade. It also remains efficient after repeated exposures to the virus, disinfectant, or after being immersed in water for a week. These mechanical properties are important if the coating is to be widely used on surfaces in public spaces.
“It was an interesting experience,” said Ducker. “Almost the entire campus was closed, and we were like ghosts wandering the empty halls of Goodwin Hall.”
“But it was very exciting to have such a clear goal. I know it was a difficult time for many bored, unhappy, or scared people. We were just focused on making a coating. ”
The coating alone will not end the pandemic. No matter how effective it is, you can’t replace masks, wash your hands, or keep your physical distance. But it could help us feel more comfortable in public spaces, Ducker says, being “both practical and fear-reducing.”
We are still a long way from seeing this coating in our cities. Ducker and his team are now busy looking for funds to mass-produce them.
The article “A surface coating that quickly inactivates SARS-CoV-2” has been published in the magazine Applied materials and ACS interfaces.
