{"id":39863,"date":"2020-09-10T10:48:24","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T14:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencebusiness.technewslit.com\/?p=39863"},"modified":"2020-09-10T13:52:33","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T17:52:33","slug":"small-biz-grant-funds-covid-19-disinfectant-spray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technewslit.com\/sciencebusiness\/?p=39863","title":{"rendered":"Small Biz Grant Funds Covid-19 Disinfectant Spray"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Spray<\/a>
(chezbeate, Pixabay)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

10 Sept. 2020. A Florida start-up company is developing a fast-acting disinfectant spray that dries on contact, yet still kills Covid-19 viruses on surfaces. Kismet Technologies LLC<\/a> in Winter Park, Florida, with labs at University of Central Florida in Orlando, are developing the disinfectant spray, funded by one-year $255,536 small-business award from National Science Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus responsible for Covid-19 infections is spread largely through the air, but can also be transmitted when human hands come in contact with the virus accumulating on surfaces. As a result, public health authorities recommend frequent hand washing<\/a> to prevent becoming infected. Current disinfectants, say the Florida researchers, require 30 seconds to 10 minutes to take effect, often requiring the target surface to remain damp during that time.<\/p>\n

Kismet Technologies founder Christina Drake<\/a> says a faster acting disinfectant spray that dries immediately is needed to be useful to homes and businesses.”We are creating,” says Drake in a UCF statement<\/a>, “a rapid-acting disinfectant spray that will disinfect faster than current disinfectants and that leaves behind a temporary, yet continually, disinfecting film post application.” She adds, “Leaving surfaces wet for minutes in high traffic areas, while people are present and shopping, is just not practical.”<\/p>\n

Drake is 2007 Ph.D. recipient in materials science from UCF, studying under Sudipta Seal<\/a>, the materials science department chair. Drake, Seal, and UCF medical school virologist Griffith Parks<\/a> are collaborating with Kismet Technologies on the disinfectant spray.<\/p>\n

Seal’s lab<\/a> studies nanoscale rare-earth oxides, including cerium oxide<\/a>, which the group’s research shows can reduce oxidative stress and inflammation to aid diabetic wound healing, as well as display antibiotic properties. While cerium is labeled a rare earth, it’s an abundant mineral, mined for decades and used in pharmaceuticals and industrial materials.<\/p>\n

In the project, Drake and colleagues plan to produce and demonstrate a prototype spray that forms a temporary, but immediate-acting disinfectant film when sprayed on surfaces. The team expects to build the spray around cerium oxide nanoparticles, and leave behind a film with protective oxidizing agents known as hydroxl radicals<\/a>. Parks’s group at UCF will test the spray on SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve been working on using these nanoparticles to kill cancer cells and other things,” notes Seal, “and we thought, why not create a separate formulation that can hopefully deactivate the virus in the same way, using its [oxidative reduction] ability.”<\/p>\n

If the tests show the spray is effective, the researchers plan to submit the material to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval.<\/p>\n

The award is a Small Business Technology Transfer or STTR grant made under the agency’s small business set-aside programs NSF calls America’s Seed Fund<\/a>. STTR grants support collaborative industry-academic research projects.<\/p>\n

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