Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have developed a ground-breaking plastic film that may kill viruses that land on its surface with room light.

The self-sterilizing film is the primary of its kind – it’s low price to supply, may be readily scaled and may very well be used for disposable aprons, tablecloths, and curtains in hospitals.

It’s coated with a skinny 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’s degradable – unlike the present disposable plastic movies it could replace, which is rather more environmentally friendly.

The breakthrough may lead to a big reduction within the transmission of viruses in healthcare environments but additionally in other settings that uses plastic movies – for instance, food production factories.

The Queen’s researchers tested the film for anti-viral activity using 4 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 the viruses – even in a room lit with just white fluorescent tubes.

The research, which has been published within the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, was carried out by Professor Andrew Mills, Dr Ri Han and Dr Christopher O’Rourke within the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast and Dr Connor Bamford and Dr Jonathon D. Coey on the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine within the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen’s.

This film could replace most of the disposable plastic movies utilized in the healthcare industry because it has the added value of being self-sterilising at no real extra cost. Through rigorous testing we now have found that it’s effective at killing viruses with just room light – that is the primary time that anything like this has been developed and we hope that it should be an enormous profit to society.”

Professor Andrew Mills, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast

Dr Connor Bamford says: “Pathogenic viruses like SARS2 and influenza will proceed to be global problem for years to return. In developing self-sterilising thin plastic movies, we now have created a low-cost technology that would have a big impact on the transmission of such concerning viruses in a healthcare environment and other sectors where they’re used.”

The project was funded by the Engineering and Physical Research Council, which is a component of UK Research and Innovation.

EPSRC Director for Cross Council Programmes, Dr Kedar Pandya, comments: “It is a hugely exciting development which has the potential to dramatically reduce the transmission of viruses across a big selection of settings while being environmentally sustainable.

“It is a wonderful example of adventurous, modern research which has the potential to enhance the lives of tens of millions of individuals.”

Source:

Queen’s University, Belfast

Journal reference:

Han, R., et al. (2022) Flexible, disposable photocatalytic plastic movies for the destruction of viruses. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology. doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2022.112551.