Do the scientists advise us to trap the COVID-19 virus with the new "catch and kill" air filter? See how to do so.

Do the scientists advise us to trap the COVID-19 virus with the new "catch and kill" air filter? See how to do so.

 According to a recent study, the air filtering device termed 'catch and kill' destroyed 99.8 percent of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in a single pass through its filter.

Scientists have created a "catch and kill" air filter which they say can trap the new coronavirus and neutralise it immediately, a device that may diminish the spread of COVID-19 in covered areas such as hospitals, schools,  and health care facilities, as well as public transit environments like airplanes.

According to the research, printed in the journal Materials Today Physics, the device destroyed 99.8 percent of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in a single pass through its filter. It stated the device, made from commercially available nickel foam heated to 200 degrees Celsius, also destroyed 99.9 percent of the spores of the dangerous bacterium Bacillus anthracis which causes the anthrax disease. "This filter could be useful in airports and in airplanes, in office buildings, schools, and cruise ships to stop the spread of COVID-19," stated Zhifeng Ren, a co-author of the study from the University of Houston (UH) in the US.

"Its ability to help control the spread of the virus could be very useful for society," Ren continued. The researchers stated they are also developing a desk-top design for the invention which is capable of filtering the air in an office worker's surroundings immediately.

"Schools, transit systems, hospitals, airplanes, office buildings, other health care facilities, and public settings would be first in line to receive the devices," stated Garrett K. Peel of Medistar, a Houston-based medical real estate development firm which partnered with UH for improving the device.

University of Houston (UH)

According to the experts, since the virus can endure in the air for about three hours, a filter that could assassinate it immediately was a viable idea, and with businesses reopening across the world, they consider controlling the spread in air-conditioned areas was vital. The study remarked that the new coronavirus cannot withstand temperatures higher than 70 degrees Celsius, so by obtaining the filter temperature very hotter -- about 200 degrees Celsius, the researchers stated they were able to destroy the virus almost immediately. Ren stated the nickel foam met various essential elements.

"It is porous, allowing the flow of air, and electrically conductive, which allowed it to be heated. It is also flexible," the researchers wrote in a declaration. But they continued that nickel foam also possessed low resistivity, causing it challenging to increase the temperature huge enough to instantly destroy the virus.

The researchers stated they solved this problem by folding the foam, attaching various compartments with electrical wires to raise the resistance huge enough to increase the temperature as high as 250 degrees Celsius. By making the filter electrically heated, preferably than heating it from an external source, they stated the volume of heat that escaped from the filter is reduced, supporting the air conditioning to perform with very low strain.

When the scientists developed and tested a prototype for the link between voltage/current and temperature, they stated it fulfills the conditions for conventional heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and could destroy the coronavirus. "This novel biodefense indoor air protection technology offers the first-in-line prevention against environmentally mediated transmission of airborne SARS-CoV-2, and will be on the forefront of technologies available to combat the current pandemic and any future airborne biothreats in indoor environments," stated Faisal Cheema, another co-author of the study from UH.

The researchers have asked for a phased roll-out of the invention, "beginning with high-priority venues, where essential workers are at elevated risk of exposure." They trust the unique device will both enhance safety for frontline workers in primary industries and allow nonessential workers to revert to public workspaces.