In addition to human-to-human transmission, the new crown virus will also spread through objects and environments. At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is still unfolding, effectively preventing the spread of contact is also an important aspect. Recently, the team of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Center for Immunization and Infection Research of the University of Hong Kong has successfully developed stainless steel with high copper content, which can kill the new crown virus, influenza A virus and E. coli that remain on the surface. According to the official website of the University of Hong Kong, this is the world's first anti-new crown virus stainless steel. One of the leaders of the R&D team, Professor Huang Mingxin of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Hong Kong, recently accepted an exclusive interview with Nandu reporters. He said that the material can kill 99.75% of the new coronavirus on the surface of the material after 3 hours, and 99.99% of the new coronavirus on the surface of the material after 6 hours. It is reported that at present, the research team of HKU is negotiating with manufacturers to put into production, and the next step will be to apply this material to more daily life scenarios such as elevator buttons and door handles.
"Inventing some of the materials that can be used in daily life is what we can do in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. It can reduce the probability of contact transmission, so that we have more or less contributed some scientific research in engineering. Huang Mingxin told Nandu reporters.
The world's first known
Stainless steel with its own surface that can kill the new crown virus
It is understood that stainless steel is one of the most widely used materials in the field of public health, but it does not have the characteristics of fighting harmful microorganisms. Previous studies have shown that the novel coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) has strong stability on conventional stainless steel surfaces, remaining on stainless steel surfaces and remaining infectious after up to three days, giving the virus the opportunity to spread through contact in public places.
The team led by Professor Huang Mingxin, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, in collaboration with the research team of Professor Pan Liewen of the Centre for Immunology and Infection Studies at the University of Hong Kong's Li Ka Shing Medical College, has developed stainless steel with a high copper content that can successfully kill the new coronavirus, influenza A virus and E. coli that remain on its surface, and is the first stainless steel in the world known to kill the new crown virus on its own surface.
Principal member of the research team. Image source the official website of the University of Hong Kong.
According to the university's official website, the research results were published in the academic journal Chemical Engineering Journal on November 25, entitled "Anti-stain pathogenless steel combating COVID-19".
6 hours later
It can kill 99.99% of the new crown virus on the surface of the material
Huang Mingxin said in an interview with Nandu reporter that the team began to study antibacterial materials four years ago, and then turned to antiviral research. After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the team began to study stainless steel that can kill the new crown virus. Huang Mingxin said that in the study released this time, the team successfully made the stainless steel surface kill the new crown virus and other common pathogen microorganisms by adjusting the chemical composition and microstructure of stainless steel.
Stainless steel samples with high copper content on their own surface that can kill the new crown virus. Image source the official website of the University of Hong Kong.
"Initially we made stainless steel containing silver, and we also predicted that silver would be suitable." Huang Mingxin said that it was later found that although silver's anti-bacterial ability is very strong, it cannot resist the new crown virus. Since then, Huang Mingxin's research team has changed its thinking and changed to stainless steel containing copper for testing. The content of copper is also a place that needs to be explored, the team found in the process of research, low copper content can kill bacteria, but it is more difficult to kill the virus, and later changed to "high copper", and found that it has a good ability to fight viruses. The stainless steel material that the team finally developed that can kill the new crown virus, after the test of the team's virologists, found that after 3 hours, it can kill 99.75% of the new coronavirus on the surface of the material, and 6 hours later, it can kill 99.99% of the new crown virus on the surface of the material.
According to the official website of the University of Hong Kong, the study found that the novel coronavirus and influenza A virus are quickly killed on the surface of pure copper and high copper stainless steel (e.g., ≧ 10 wt), but show good stability on the surface of sterling silver and low copper stainless steel (e.g., ≦5 wt%). The results of the study showed differences in the use of silver and copper as alloying elements for the development of pathogen-resistant stainless steels.
Plans apply to elevator buttons, door handles, etc
More everyday life scenarios
"One of the inspirations for us to develop this material is to find that after the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, everyone was afraid of touching the elevator button when they entered the elevator, and only dared to touch it with the key." Huang Mingxin said that the team hopes to develop some frequently touched, conventional stainless steel products that can be used to replace some frequently exposed public places to prevent the spread of surface viruses, reduce the risk of infection in the public, and combat the current new crown epidemic.
High copper stainless steel (20 wt%) elevator button prepared using powder metallurgy technology. Image source the official website of the University of Hong Kong.
Liu Litao, the first author of the paper and a doctoral student of Professor Huang Mingxin, said, "There is a large amount of copper-rich precipitation phase in this material, which is evenly dispersed in the whole piece of stainless steel. Therefore, even if the surface of stainless steel is constantly worn or damaged, it can still continuously kill pathogen microorganisms that remain on the surface. Huang Mingxin said that unlike the protective substances sprayed on the surface and will fall off for a long time, in places where this stainless steel is used, even if you forget to disinfect, the new crown virus is difficult to survive for a long time, because the entire material itself has the ability to kill the new crown virus.
Huang Mingxin said that the current development of anti-new crown virus stainless steel production is not complicated, can use the existing mature industrial technology for mass production, there are also some Hong Kong, mainland, European manufacturers are negotiating production matters with HKU. The next first step is to use new stainless steel to prepare some prototypes of stainless steel elevator buttons, door handles and handrails that are widely used in public places for testing, and it is expected to further industrialize and commercialize the research and development results and apply them to more life scenarios.
At present, the research team has used high copper stainless steel (20wt%) to prepare elevator buttons for production testing. "I hope that this stainless steel can be produced and put on the market as soon as possible, so that more places can use it." Huang Mingxin said that after negotiating with manufacturers and enterprises, the team will provide ingredient design and process guidance to manufacturers. After the material is put into production, it will continue to give some guidance on subsequent production technology issues.
"At present, the main force for fighting the new crown virus is still medical-related researchers, and as engineering researchers, we also hope to contribute some scientific research in the process of fighting the epidemic." Asked how he felt about the study, Huang Mingxin said, "Inventing some materials that can be used in daily life is what we can do in engineering." It can reduce the probability of contact transmission, so that we have more or less contributed some scientific research in engineering. At present, the team is also applying for new projects, hoping to continue the previous research, such as the study of materials that can kill the new crown variant virus.
Written by: Nandu reporter Xiao Yunhui