A cellulose-based film capable of inactivating COVID-19 in just minutes has been developed by researchers from the University of Birmingham and Cambridge University.

The nearly invisible thin film was developed jointly with the firm FiberLean Technologies, a specialist in microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) applications.

According to its developers, the film was designed for high traffic surfaces such as door handles and handrails, using a porous MFC developed by FiberLean. The researchers determined that the pores expedited the evaporation rate of liquid droplets, thereby introducing a so-called imbalanced osmotic pressure across the bacteria membrane.
In the lab, the team discovered that when tested for surface transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the film reportedly reduced the infectivity of droplets containing the virus placed on the coating for five minutes. Infectivity fell to zero after 10 minutes on the coating, according to the researchers.
“The risk of surface transmission, as opposed to aerosol transmission, comes from large droplets which remain infective if they land on hard surfaces, where they can be transferred by touch,” the researchers explained.
Additional tests were performed with droplets containing the bacteria E. coli and S.epidermidis placed on the porous film. Researchers reported that the infectivity of both was reduced significantly after one hour and at the 24-hour mark.

The film is detailed in the article, Porous Cellulose Thin Films as Sustainable and Effective Antimicrobial Surface Coatings, which appears in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

To contact the author of this article, email mdonlon@globalspec.com