ORLANDO, Fla. – Top health officials say the biggest way to stop the spread of COVID-19 is prevention, but did you know some disinfectant products don’t work right away?
“The most common ones that people get, like the Lysol or Clorox, wipes, the sanitizing wipes, usually the surface needs to stay wet for about four minutes to work. There are some faster-acting ones that are in the order of thirty seconds to a minute,” said Kristina Drake, owner of Kismet Technologies.
A new, rapid-acting, and long-lasting disinfectant, that instantly kills viruses without the harsh chemicals, is in development at the University of Central Florida. The school teamed up with Kismet Technologies, a company that specializes in engineered materials for use in defense, health technology, and automotive safety.
“Together, we came up with an idea for a disinfectant based on these nanoparticles that has multiple mechanisms to go after viruses, which will help the disinfectant to act faster than what is currently on the market,” Drake explained.
Dr. Sudipta Seal is a UCF professor who has worked on this technology for over 20 years. Once developed this disinfectant leaves behind a temporary, but continually disinfecting film after it’s sprayed.
“Since we have a lot of data — not necessarily on the virus, but on the subjects — I think it will be a short span to get to the next level, working with Kismet Tech,” Dr. Seal said.
“The commercialization of basic research so that innovation can get to people in a shorter time frame is something that needs to be done more, especially now during the pandemic,” Dr. Drake added. “We’re seeing that we really need to speed up the development of critical technologies.”
