Researchers at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a novel way to sterilise surfaces – using a jet of glowing plasma.
The team created a tool which emits plasma, generated from an electric arc and a supply of harmless argon, but only at room temperature. However, their study, testing the plasma jet on a series of different materials, has shown that it can sterilise surfaces of the COVID virus within 30 seconds
Unlike other sterilisation solutions, such as chemicals or UV light, the plasma is completely harmless, with the only inputs being electricity and air – argon makes up 1% of the air we breathe. It was even able to sterilise surfaces such as cardboard, which would be difficult to sterilise with traditional chemicals without slightly damaging it.
A relatively new technology, “cold” plasma has been used in a variety of medical applications, including cancer surgery, dentistry and wound healing.
Author Richard E. Wirz said the results show that plasma has a great role to play in potentially breaking the transmission of COVID/
“This is only the beginning. We are very confident and have very high expectations for plasma in future work. In the future, a lot of answers for the scientific community will come from plasma,” said Wirz.
Source: Phys.org
