Virginia Tech Researchers Develop Coating That Kills 99.9% of COVID-19 Virus on Surfaces

Virginia Tech chemical engineering researchers have developed a coating that has proven to kill 99.9% of the COVID-19 virus on many common-use surfaces. William Ducker and other Virginia Tech scientists in collaboration with researchers from the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health tested the coating on everyday items including doorknobs, credit card readers used at cashier check-outs, and shopping cart handles. They found that within one hour of applying the coating, the virus was undetectable.

With research indicating COVID-19 can stay viable on some surfaces for up to three days, this new coating has promising potential for fighting the spread of the virus on surfaces.

The coating is made of cuprous oxide, a form of copper, and polyurethane. Ducker and colleagues found that with two coats of painting on a surface, the coating can retain its potency of killing the virus for months. Even after immersing a coated surface in water for 13 days, it continued to kill new exposures to the virus. So ultimately, once the coating is on a surface, it does not require continuous re-coating or any re-sanitizing.

Ducker hopes the coating, he calls “Safety Coat,” can be used by industries and applied to surfaces in many public spaces including hospitals, classrooms, and public transit. In the meantime, the researchers are continuing further tests of the coating’s effectiveness to reduce the one-hour activation time to a matter of minutes.

To read the complete published research along with images of the coating in use, see the full article in the American Chemical Society.