Catching and killing of airborne SARS-CoV-2 to control spread of COVID-19 by a heated air disinfection system

Yu, Luo; Peel, Garrett K.; Cheema, Faisal H.; Lawrence, William S.; Bukreyeva, Natalya; Jinks, Christopher W.; Peel, Jennifer E.; Peterson, Johnny W.; Paessler, Slobodan; Hourani, Monzer; Ren, Zhifeng

Abstract Airborne transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) via air-conditioning systems poses a significant threat for the continued escalation of the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Considering that SARS-CoV-2 cannot tolerate temperatures above 70 °C, here we designed and fabricated efficient filters based on heated nickel (Ni) foam to catch and kill SARS-CoV-2. Virus test results revealed that 99.8% of the aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 was caught and killed by a single pass through a novel Ni-foam-based filter when heated up to 200 °C. Additionally, the same filter was also used to catch and kill 99.9% of Bacillus anthracis, an airborne spore. This study paves the way for preventing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other highly infectious airborne agents in closed environments.