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. 2022 Apr 1:433:133783.
doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2021.133783. Epub 2021 Nov 25.

Anti-pathogen stainless steel combating COVID-19

L T Liu  1   2 , A W H Chin  3   4 , P Yu  2 , L L M Poon  3   4   5 , M X Huang  1
Affiliations

Anti-pathogen stainless steel combating COVID-19

L T Liu et al. Chem Eng J. .

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exhibits strong stability on conventional stainless steel (SS) surface, with infectious virus detected even after two days, posing a high risk of virus transmission via surface touching in public areas. In order to mitigate the surface toughing transmission, the present study develops the first SS with excellent anti-pathogen properties against SARS-COV-2. The stabilities of SARS-CoV-2, H1N1 influenza A virus (H1N1), and Escherichia coli (E.coli) on the surfaces of Cu-contained SS, pure Cu, Ag-contained SS, and pure Ag were investigated. It is discovered that pure Ag and Ag-contained SS surfaces do not display apparent inhibitory effects on SARS-CoV-2 and H1N1. In comparison, both pure Cu and Cu-contained SS with a high Cu content exhibit significant antiviral properties. Significantly, the developed anti-pathogen SS with 20 wt% Cu can distinctly reduce 99.75% and 99.99% of viable SARS-CoV-2 on its surface within 3 and 6 h, respectively. In addition, the present anti-pathogen SS also exhibits an excellent inactivation ability for H1N1 influenza A virus (H1N1), and Escherichia coli (E.coli). Interestingly, the Cu ion concentration released from the anti-pathogen SS with 10 wt% and 20 wt% Cu was notably higher than the Ag ion concentration released from Ag and the Ag-contained SS. Lift buttons made of the present anti-pathogen SS are produced using mature powder metallurgy technique, demonstrating its potential applications in public areas and fighting the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens via surface touching.

Keywords: Anti-pathogen; COVID-19; H1N1; SARS-CoV-2; Stainless steel.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
(A) Schematics of the surface test simulating virus droplet at ambient conditions; (B) Lift buttons made from the SS-20Cu by PM technology.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Viability of the SARS-Cov-2 on the surfaces of various metals (each point is the average value of three measurements).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Viability of H1N1 on the surfaces of various metals (each point is the average value of three measurements).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Photos of typical bacterial colonies for the testing metals. A) SS-10Cu, B) SS-20Cu, C) pure Cu, D) 316L.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Microstructures of SS-10Cu and SS-20Cu. (A) SS-10Cu and (B) SS-20Cu. (i) BSE image for Cu-rich precipitates of micron and submicron sizes within the SS matrix; (ii) the corresponding EDX mapping of Cu element in (i); (iii) TEM HAADF images of nano-sized Cu-rich precipitates within the SS matrix; (iv) the corresponding EDX mapping of Cu element in (iii); (v) the EDX spectrum for the Cu-rich phase.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
(A) Cu ion concentration released from pure Cu and the Cu-contained SS in the DMEM solution; (B) Ag ion concentrations released from pure Ag and the Ag-contained SS in the DMEM solution.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Electrochemical polarization curves of the experimental stainless steels soaked in 0.9 wt% NaCl solution.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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