COVID-19 is caused by the virus, SARS-CoV-2, that is known to remain viable for up to one week on certain solids. The aim of this research is to create coatings that lead to more rapid inactivation of the virus, thereby shortening the period during which people can be infected from solids. We have focused on copper-based coatings and here discuss the ability of a porous CuO coating to reduce infection from solids. We have fabricated a coating of CuO by oxidizing and sintering Cu<sub>2</sub>O particles into a 30-50 µm layer on glass and then tested infection of Vero E6 by SARs-CoV-2 extracted from the solid. Infection from the solid is much lower (99.9% lower) than from uncoated glass after half an hour on the 30 µm-thick coating. Unlike Cu<sub>2</sub>O, leaching of copper species is not important and contact killing is more likely. The imbibition of liquid droplets into the coating is very important for a fast reduction in infection because it reduces the transport distance, increases the area for adsorption, and speeds evaporation. We describe the imbibition as a function of humidity and the effect of the porous layer on drying of droplets

A CuO surface coating that reduces infection by SARS-CoV-2

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.