À̹ÌÁö È®´ë [Photo provided by KAIST]
A South Korean research team has developed a new air sterilization technology that is said to be effective in eradicating Covid-19 virus without producing health hazardous substances.
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) said on Wednesday that a research team led by Professor Lee Seung-seob of Mechanical Engineering has developed a new electrospray technology that can create micro water droplets with a sterilization effect on Covid-19.
The Korean team¡¯s electrospray technology creates micro water droplets that contain OH radical sterilization substance. OH radical is a substance that has the strong sterilization effects but is harmless to humans.
OH radical is short-lived in the air. But when it is locked inside water droplets, it can live longer.
À̹ÌÁö È®´ë [Photo provided by KAIST]
The micro water droplet spray technology containing OH radical was first developed by Japan¡¯s Panasonic. In July, Panasonic announced a test result showing that micro water droplets based on electrospray technology is effective in killing coronavirus. However, it has drawbacks of producing only a small amount of micro water droplets and creating harmful ozone.
But the Korean team¡¯s technology that uses micro nozzle made of polymer to spray electrostatic can create a large amount of micro water droplets without producing ozone. Using its water electrospray technology and polymer micro nozzle, the team is currently developing an antiseptic air purifier for Covid-19.
¡°The polymer micro-fine nozzle electrospray technology is harmless to the human body and environmentally-friendly, which is expected to contribute to prevention of Covid-19 in the future,¡± said Lee.
The research was first introduced in international journal Polymer in April.
By Lee Jong-hwa and Lee Eun-joo
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]