Researchers from the University of Houston claimed to have designed a special air filter that can trap the new coronavirus and exploit it with heat to kill the disease on contact.
Dr. Zhifeng Ren, director of the Texas Superconductivity Center at UH, is the brain behind the project, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Ren worked with Medistar CEO Monzer Hourani to achieve a “unique design” made of heated nickel foam, which was detailed in an article published by Materials Today Physics.
Investigators reportedly conducted tests at the Galveston National Laboratory and found that 99.8 percent of the new coronavirus causing COVID-19 was killed “instantly” after a single pass through the filter. However, the process requires that the foam be heated to 392 degrees Fahrenheit.
“This filter could be useful in airports and airplanes, in office buildings, schools, and cruise ships to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Ren explained. “Its ability to help control the spread of the virus could be very helpful to society.”
He also said Medistar is looking to offer smaller custom models that can purify the air around a single employee’s desk or workstation, according to the Chronicle.
Medistar’s Dr. Garrett Peel, who helped design the design, suggested that the filters be deployed in “high-priority locations where essential workers are at high risk of exposure (particularly schools, hospitals, and healthcare facilities, as well as surroundings of public transport) such as airplanes) “.
“He is basically a high-performance COVID-19 assassin,” he said. “This is safe and effective. We want to implement this first in Texas and start implementing them in schools, nursing homes. This unit could be deployed in 60 days. “
“It provides an extra feeling of security, knowing that our children and the elderly are protected,” added Peel. “We need our leaders to step forward and create private and public partnerships to bring this product to our schools and protect our children.”
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