This Prickly New Material Literally Pops Viruses

More from the article...

... The nanospikes literally skewer virus particles as they make contact, according to the team behind the study, led by researchers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University in Australia.

This action breaks the viruses apart or damages them enough to stop them from reproducing. It's somewhat like puncturing a balloon, with almost all viral activity on the surface wiped out in six hours.

The team says the 96 percent hit rate would be enough to protect most healthy individuals from an array of pathogens communicable through surface contact.

"Our virus-killing surface looks like a flat black mirror to the naked eye but actually has tiny spikes designed specifically to kill viruses," says RMIT molecular biologist Natalie Borg.

"This material can be incorporated into commonly touched devices and surfaces to prevent viral spread and reduce the use of disinfectants." ...

imo, looks interesting, but I'll wait for the peer-reviewed studies.

@#3

Whoa, thanks for thank.

I was not aware of that.

(so much to learn, so little time)

@#6,7 ... Yup, linked right there at the end of the article. That you posted. ...

Yup.

The last sentence of the article I posted is...

... The research has been published in ACS Nano.

And ACS Nano is a link to pubs.acs.org

Piercing of the Human Parainfluenza Virus by Nanostructured Surfaces

... This paper presents a comprehensive experimental and theoretical investigation into the antiviral properties of nanostructured surfaces and explains the underlying virucidal mechanism. We used reactive ion etching to fabricate silicon (Si) surfaces featuring an array of sharp nanospikes with an approximate tip diameter of 2 nm and a height of 290 nm. The nanospike surfaces exhibited a 1.5 log reduction in infectivity of human parainfluenza virus type 3 (hPIV-3) after 6 h, a substantially enhanced efficiency, compared to that of smooth Si. Theoretical modeling of the virus"nanospike interactions determined the virucidal action of the nanostructured substrata to be associated with the ability of the sharp nanofeatures to effectively penetrate the viral envelope, resulting in the loss of viral infectivity. Our research highlights the significance of the potential application of nanostructured surfaces in combating the spread of viruses and bacteria. Notably, our study provides valuable insights into the design and optimization of antiviral surfaces with a particular emphasis on the crucial role played by sharp nanofeatures in maximizing their effectiveness. ...

Was it peer-reviewed?