Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
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-sterilizing film is the first of its kind—it is low cost to produce, can be readily scaled and could be used for disposable aprons, tablecloths, 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 SARS-CoV-2.
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.
[...] They found that the film is effective at killing all of the viruses—even in a room lit with just white fluorescent tubes.
[...] Professor Andrew Mills comments, "This film could replace many of the disposable plastic films used in the healthcare industry as it has the added value of being self-sterilizing at no real extra cost. Through rigorous testing we have found that it is effective at killing viruses with just room light—this is the first time that anything like this has been developed and we hope that it will be a huge benefit to society."
Journal Reference:
Ri Han, Jonathon D.Coey, Christopher O'Rourke, et al., Flexible, disposable photocatalytic plastic films for the destruction of viruses [open], Photochem Photobiol, 235, 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2022.112551
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 12 2022, @02:00AM (1 child)
Too bad we're using LEDs now.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 12 2022, @11:32AM
That thought occurred to me as well. White LEDs do not put out light in the UV spectrum (though you have to be careful, like with IR, in defining what you mean by that term). Perhaps in hospitals they can throw a UV source in the room to compensate. On the other hand, I wasn't aware that fluorescent tubes put out UV light either, but I've never really had to work down in that part of the EM spectrum.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Username on Monday September 12 2022, @09:46AM
So basically it eliminates DNA evidence?