University researchers, led by Huang Mingxin from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Leo Poon from the Center for Immunity and Infection, are also liaising with industrial partners to test this material in the creation of steel products such as button buttons. elevators, door handles and handrails are some of the most frequently touched surfaces in public spaces.
Related reading: Germ-killing copper will be installed on public transit in Toronto and Vancouver
The innovation – if proven to be effective and scalable at lower cost – will significantly reduce the costs of regularly sanitizing public transit areas such as airports and train stations as well as other places where crowds gather such as cinemas and sports stadiums. As pandemic fears return with the omicron variant, the new product has the potential to help people get back to normal life after the disruption of the past two years.
The alloy’s antimicrobial property is long-lasting, even if it is continuously damaged during service, the researchers said in the published study. And it can be produced using the existing “powder metallurgy” technique keeping costs low.
Under ordinary circumstances, the covid-inducing virus can remain on surfaces for more than two days.
H1N1, E.coli
The new alloy, which adds copper to the stainless steel mix, may also protect against other disease-causing microbes. “The anti-pathogen stainless steel also exhibits excellent inactivation capability” for the influenza A H1N1 virus and Escherichia coli bacteria, they added.
The Covid pandemic has so far infected more than 266 million people worldwide, killed more than 5.2 million and left survivors with long-term side effects. The virus itself has undergone multiple mutations, five of which have been declared variants of concern by the World Health Organization and have kept drug and vaccine makers on their toes.
The newest and most differentiated variant, omicron, was first detected in southern Africa on November 24 and has rapidly spread to dozens of countries since, thwarting reopening plans and forcing countries to reimpose restrictions. travel restrictions.
(By Jinshan Hong)
