Coronavirus: Copper plating and copper coating may help curb COVID-19, few researchers claim! As the Coronavirus pandemic has been wreaking havoc on the minds and lives of people, scientists and researchers are trying to come up with new technological solutions that can help curb the spread. While using technologies in terms of several applications have made it easier to practise social distancing, there is another technology developer who is working on making some physical contact safe. According to a release by Charles Darwin University (CDU), the university has teamed up with technology developer SPEE3D where they will be using 3D printing technology. Now the question is how a 3D metal printing technology helps in reducing the Coronavirus outbreak? The university said that with the help of 3D technology, they will be able to make copper door handles. Another logical question is to ask what is the connection between copper door handles and COVID-19?
The CDU release highlights the use of copper handles in high traffic areas is expected to reduce the viability of viruses, especially COVID-19. It is to note that the researchers from the National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Princeton University, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, National Institutes of Health, and the University of California in the United States had earlier done a study which revealed that the virus does not stay longer on a copper surface than it does on plastic or steel. With copper door handles, the CDU Director of Research believes that transmission can have a potential decline.
It claims that the process is known as ACTIVAT3D copper which has been developed by SPEE3D’s 3D printing technology. The process, with some new algorithms, helps control metal printers and enables the parts to be coated with copper. According to their research, the testing done by them has shown that the modified surface does not survive for more than two hours and “contact kills 96 per cent of COVID-19.”
CDU said that they have installed copper plating in one of their buildings. It said the future aim is to engage with industry stalwarts and look for further applications of the technology. It also claimed that the joint initiative is “world-first 3D metal printing technology.”
