New Air Filter to 'Catch and Kill' Coronavirus Found! How Does it Work? Details

Scientists have recently discovered a “catch and kill” air filter which can reportedly trap the novel coronavirus and neutralize it. This is being hailed as an invention that could possibly curb the spread of the virus especially in closed spaces such as schools, hospitals and health care facilities, as well as public transit environments like airplanes. 

As per the study published in journal Materials Today Physics, the device has killed 99.8 per cent of the coronavirus in just a single pass through its filter. 

The device is said to have been made from nickel foam heated up to 200 degrees Celsius. It has already been used to kill 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,” said 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 added. The researchers also said that they are developing a desk-top model of the same so that it can be used in offices. 

As per the scientists’ observations, the virus can remain in air for about three hours, this filter will enable us to remove the virus quickly. With businesses and countries across the globe reopening their economy and slipping back to normalcy, controlling the spread of the virus in air-conditioned spaces is believed to be the need of the hour. 

According to the study, coronavirus cannot survive above 70 degrees Celsius. So, the key is to make the filter temperature hotter than that, probably about 200 degree Celsius, the researchers said they can kill the virus almost instantly.