New coating removes 99.9% of all coronavirus on it in an hour -- may soon find its ways to public spa

[Judi Lynn]

Such a coating can be helpful both in public and in our homes.

Alexandru Micu by Alexandru Micu July 16, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has made it so that we all think twice before touching any surface in a public space. But new research at Virginia Tech aims to make it safe to touch stuff yet again.



A cross section of the coating seen under the electron microscope.
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 doorknobs, light switches, or shopping carts. This coating then quickly inactivates any viral SARS-CoV-2 particle that lands on it, preventing its spread.

Such a coating can be helpful both in public and in our homes, as the coronavirus has been shown to contaminate the living space of infected individuals.

Safe to touch
“Everybody is worried about touching objects that may have the coronavirus,” says William Ducker, a chemical engineering professor at Virginia Tech, who led the research. “It would help people to relax a little bit.”

More:
https://www.zmescience.com/science/coating-coronavirus-inactivate-82462454/

[mucifer]

1. Lets just hope if it works it's not cost prohibitive

[gristy]

2. cute, but lots more testing needed

Toxicity (does it kill things besides Covid?), durability (does it rub off? does it cause underlying material to degrade?)...

What else?

[cstanleytech]

3. Asbestos was great for insulation at one time to.

Then there is lead and how useful it was in paint and piping.