The research, which has been published in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, was carried out by Professor Andrew Mills, Dr Ri Han and Dr Christopher O’Rourke
National Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have developed a plastic film that can kill viruses that land on its surface with room light. The self-sterilising film can be readily scaled and could be used for disposable aprons, table cloths and curtains in hospitals.
It is coated with a thin layer of particles that absorb UV light and produce reactive oxygen species – ROS. These kill viruses, including SARS2. The technology used to create the film also ensures it is degradable - unlike the current disposable plastic films it would replace, which is much more environmentally friendly. The breakthrough could lead to a significant reduction in the transmission of viruses in healthcare environments but also in other settings that uses plastic films – for example, food production factories.
The Queen’s researchers tested the film for anti-viral activity using four different viruses – two strains of influenza A virus, a highly-stable picornavirus called EMCV and SARS2 – exposing it to either UVA radiation or with light from a cool white light fluorescent lamp. They found that the film is effective at killing all of the viruses - even in a room lit with just white fluorescent tubes.
The research, which has been published in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, was carried out by Professor Andrew Mills, Dr Ri Han and Dr Christopher O’Rourke in the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast and Dr Connor Bamford and Dr Jonathon D. Coey at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine in the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen’s.
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