A team of 麻豆原创 researchers have proven the efficacy of a nanomaterial-based disinfectant they developed to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Through their experiments, they found that the disinfectant was able to kill several serious viruses including SARS and Zika. The results of their findings were recently published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
鈥淚t is always a delight to have our research work featured in a reputed journal,鈥� said Udit Kumar, a doctoral student in the (MSE) and the lead author of the journal article. 鈥淕iven the theme and possible impact of antiviral research in current times, our article will definitely aid our fight against global pandemics.鈥�
The paper outlines the most recent study from a multidisciplinary team of researchers that includes Sudipta Seal, the chair of the MSE department, and Griff Parks, a College of Medicine virologist and director of the . They experimented with the nanomaterial yttrium silicate, which has antiviral properties that are activated by white light, such as sunlight or LED lights. As long as there is a continuous source of light, the antiviral properties regenerate, creating a self-cleaning surface disinfectant.
鈥淵ttrium silicate acts as a silent killer, with antiviral properties constantly recharged by the light,鈥� Kumar says. 鈥淚t is most effective in minimizing surface to the surface spread of many viruses.鈥�
Kumar says their test of yttrium silicate in white light disinfected surfaces with high viral loads in approximately 30 minutes. Additionally, the nanomaterial was able to combat the spread of other viruses including parainfluenza, vesicular stomatitis, rhinovirus, Zika and SARS.
鈥淭his disinfectant technology is an important achievement for both engineering and health because we all were affected during the pandemic,鈥� Seal says. 鈥淐OVID is still ongoing and who knows what other illnesses are on the horizon.鈥�
Other 麻豆原创 researchers, including , nanotechnology student Balaashwin Babu 鈥�20 and materials science and engineering student Erik Marcelo, are co-authors on the paper.
鈥淭his publication is the culmination of timely insight by the investigators as to the importance of rapid development of broad-spectrum anti-microbials, as well as hard work in the lab to show the potency of our new materials,鈥� Parks says. 鈥淭his is an outstanding example of the power of cross-discipline research 鈥� in this case, materials science and microbiology researchers from CECS and COM.鈥�
The research is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation鈥檚 RAPID program.
Seal joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center, which is part of 麻豆原创鈥檚聽College of Engineering and Computer Science, in 1997. He has an appointment at the聽College of Medicine聽and is a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚 prosthetics cluster听叠颈颈辞苍颈虫. He is the former director of 麻豆原创鈥檚 NanoScience Technology Center and Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center. He received his doctorate in materials engineering with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley.
Parks is the聽College of Medicine鈥檚聽associate dean for聽Research. He came to 麻豆原创 in 2014 as director of the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences after 20 years at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, where he was professor and chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He earned his doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin and was an American Cancer Society Fellow at Northwestern University.
Study title: Potent Inactivation of Human Respiratory Viruses Including SARS-CoV-2 by a Photoactivated Self-Cleaning Regenerative Antiviral Coating
