Innovative Plastics Materials for Mitigation of COVID‑19 Spread
This research project has the goal of determining the appropriate concentration of a proprietary additive to plastic resins that will yield antimicrobial (including antiviral) activity. Such activity would reduce the ability to transfer viable SARS-CoV-2 particles by touching surfaces, thus potentially reducing surface-mediated transmission of COVID-19. The material containing the additive would have multiple use in consumer and industrial goods, and would be of most interest for high touch surfaces. This would be a full collaboration between the industry partner and the academic partner, where the industry partner prepares the material to be tested, containing a range of additive, and the academic partner performs testing using proxy bacterial cultures and bacteriophage (bacterial virus) lysates. The results would support future manufacturing and commercializaiton.
