MOSCOW (MRC) -- Canadian researchers have developed an inexpensive, non-toxic coating for almost any fabric that decreases the infectivity of the virus that causes Covid-19 by up to 90%, according to Business Standard.
"When you're walking into a hospital, you want to know that pillow you're putting your head onto is clean," said lead author Taylor Wright, a doctoral student in the department of chemistry at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
"This coating could take a little bit of the worry off frontline workers to have Personal Protection Equipment with antimicrobial properties," Wright said.
Researchers soaked fabric in a solution of a bacteria-killing polymer which contains a molecule that releases sterilizing forms of oxygen when light shines on it.
They then used an ultraviolet (UV) light to turn this solution to a solid, fixing the coating to the fabric.
"This coating has both passive and active antimicrobial properties, killing microbes immediately upon contact, which is then amped-up when sunlight hits the cloth," said senior author Dr. Michael Wolf, Professor of chemistry at UBC.
Both components are safe for human use, and the entire process takes about one hour at room temperature, said Wright. It also makes the fabric hydrophobic, meaning microbes are less likely to stick to the cloth, and doesn't seem to affect the strength of the fabric.
In addition, the coating can be used on almost any fabric, including cotton, polyester, denim, and silk, with applications in hospital fabrics, masks. It can also be used for activewear, with an 'anti-stink' coating applied to areas where people tend to sweat, killing off the bacteria that makes us smell, according to the study published in American Chemical Society Applied Materials & Interfaces journal.
While other such technologies can involve chemical waste, high energy use, or expensive equipment, the UBC method is relatively easy and affordable, Wright noted.
As MRC reported before, in May 2020, Borealis started production of meltblown fabrics for face mask applications on its unique pilot line in Linz, Austria. Borealis managed quickly to convert the way of working from pure development to smaller scale pilot production to regularly produce rolls of fine fibre fabrics for face masks. Recently developed by Borealis, a new proprietary polypropylene (PP) meltblown resin has boosted filtration properties due to its capability for finer fibres. By exploiting a robust network of co-operation partners in the country, Borealis is helping bolster the supply of filtration media to increase face masks production.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
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