Photocatalysis: a Photonics process to inactivate corona virus

Ottawa July 22, 2020

The chemical free nanotechnology introduced earlier this year as a way to kill bacterial “superbugs” by Rice University, could be used to capture and deactivate the corona virus and will use a photocatalytic approach to disinfection -called “Trap-and-zap”.

The team’s nanotechnology enabled approach uses molecular imprinting to selectively absorb and concentrate the viruses near a photocatalytic site for efficient degradation.

The researchers hypothesize that molecular imprinting could enable selective virus absorption near the reactive sites, resulting in reliable high disinfection rates.

This project could enhance more precise separation through sorbents and improving detection limits of the sensors used in diagnostics and surveillance efforts.

Photonics media/Biophotonics link:

https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Photocatalysis_Could_Be_Used_to_Inactivate/a65761

For additional information, view the National Science Foundation award abstract

The research that the approach is based on was published in:

Environmental Science & Technology (www.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b06926)