Preventing the spread of COVID-19 through touch with anti-viral surface coating

By OEM Update Editorial April 13, 2020 5:19 pm

As declared by World Health Organization (WHO), presently the whole world is facing a pandemic and a global crisis caused by a novel virus that was discovered to be the cause of a large and rapidly spreading outbreak of respiratory disease, including potentially fatal pneumonia, in Wuhan, China (starting 9th January, 2020). The virus was provisionally designated 2019-nCoV and later given the official name SARS-CoV-2; the disease caused by the virus was officially named Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) by WHO.

SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped, positive sense, single-stranded RNA virus. The coronavirus is so named because of its characteristic solar corona (crown-like) appearance when observed under an electron microscope. This appearance is produced by the peplomers of the surface (or spike; designated S) glycoprotein radiating from the virus lipidenvelope.The SARS-CoV virion is spherical with an average diameter of 78 nm.

Figure 1: Anatomy of COVID-19 virus (Figure from New Scientist Journal)

SARS-CoV-2 is a delicate but highly contagious virus capable of spreading primarily from person to person around the world. It also spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes and a droplet lands on a surface or object. When a person touches the surface that has the virus on it, and then touches his/her nose, mouth or eyes, he/she could pick it up. On the personal level, hygiene measures are recommended to prevent the spread of the disease, especially in institutions where individuals are in contact with patients or contaminated fomites. Washing hands with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand rubs is effective for interrupting virus transmission. Although viruses don’t grow on non-living surfaces, recent studies show that coronavirus can remain viable or infectious on metal, glass, wood, fabrics and plastic surfaces for several hours to days, irrespective of the surface looking dirty or clean. However, the coronavirus is relatively easy to destroy, and using simple disinfectants like ethanol (62-71 percent), hydrogen peroxide (0.5 percent) or sodium hypochlorite (0.1 percent) can break the delicate envelope that surrounds the tiny microbe. Nonetheless, it’s practically impossible to sanitise the surfaces all the time and it doesn’t guarantee that the surface won’t get contaminated again. It’s a much wiser solution in such a scenario if the surface can repel the pathogens, making it non-stick, and/or “sanitise by itself” by neutralising the contaminated pathogens quickly, thus eliminating the possibilities of transfer of microorganisms to the human body and its subsequent spread. A study shows that the spike glycoprotein of COVID-19 allows the virus to dock and bind to the ACE2 surface proteins of human epithelial cells in the respiratory track, thereby infecting these cells. Association of the COVID-19 spike glycoprotein with host ACE2 surface protein is a crucial step for infection.

Our research aim is to create a surface coating with relatively low surface energy value which may repel the spike glycoprotein to anchor the surfaces of landing, also use of active chemicals that could inactivate the spike glycoprotein as well as viral nucleotides. As we already have developed an anti-microbial coating solution virtually for all surfaces with effective combination of nano-actives, having proven literature support that it is anti-viral too, we are pretty convinced about its performance as an antiviral and it should resist the transmission of virus from non-living articles to living body cells through touch.

Literature survey shows that the nano-particles (NPs) of various metals and metal oxides like zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs), cuprous oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs), silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), nano sized copper (I) iodide particles (CuINPs), gold nanoparticles on silica nanoparticles (Au-SiO2NPs) and also some quaternary ammonium cations commonly called QUATs are very promising and well proven to inactivate the virus.

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The cationic silver (Ag+) or QUATs might work to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 by interacting with its surface (spike) protein S based on its charge like it works in HIV, hepatitis, etc.Figure 2: Schematic repetition of anti-viral coating with our nano-actives for inactivation of any adhered virus on the surfaces

As our NANOVA® HYGIENE+TM omniphobic antimicrobial coating shows complete disablement of various pathogenic bacteria already and further on the basis of available scientific supports, we are of the opinion that the present formula should work against a broad spectrum of viruses as well. However, test and validation are being conducted on a war footing at South India Textile Research Association (SITRA), Coimbatore to establish its efficacy on inactivation of COVID-19 on different surfaces to stop the secondary spread from various surfaces to living cells through touch. Once found active, it has numerous applications virtually for all surfaces like fabric (mask, gloves, doctor coats, curtains, bed sheet), metal (lifts, doors handle, knobs, railings, public transport), wood (furniture, floors and partition panels), concrete (hospitals, clinics and isolation wards), plastics (switches, kitchen and home appliances) and potentially could save many lives.

For more information, contact:
Dr Swapan Kumar Ghosh, Director, Nova Surface-Care Centre Pvt. Ltd.
Unit Nos. D107 to D112, Kailash Industrial Complex
Vikhroli – Hiranandani Link Road, Vikhroli (W)
Mumbai 400 079, India.
(O)+91-22-61278175; (H/P) +91-9833237749
E-mail: swapan.ghosh@nsccindia.com