A glove made of a material designed at Rice University that kills coronaviruses with heat without burning users’ skin. Credit: Gustavo Raskosky/Rice University
Key points:
- A new material that heats up on one side but not the other could help reduce PPE waste and substantially alter the supply chain.
- Using electrical current, the material rapidly heats up its outer surface enough to kill viruses, but keeps the inner surface close to normal body temperature to prevent harm to the skin.
- The results pave the way for a systemic shift away from single-use disposable PPE.
The supply chain issues seen in medical PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic presented the industry with unprecedented challenges.
“It made us realize the need for reusable PPE,” said Marquise Bell, a Rice mechanical engineering graduate student.
Bell’s most recent work paves the way for a systemic shift away from single-use disposable PPE. She and her team have created a new material that heats up on the outside to kill viruses, but stays cool on the reverse side to protect skin.
The composite, textile-based material developed by Rice University engineers uses Joule heating to decontaminate its surface of coronaviruses, like SARS-CoV-2, in under 5 seconds, effectively killing at least 99.9% of viruses.
Using electrical current, the material rapidly heats up its outer surface to temperatures above 100 degrees Celsius (212 Fahrenheit), while remaining close to normal body temperature on the reverse side near the user’s skin where it reaches a maximum of about 36 C (97 F).
Compared with other decontamination methods, dry heat tends to be both reliable and less likely to damage protective equipment. However, making wearables that heat up to adequate temperatures quickly has required a lot of work.
Wearable items made from the material can handle hundreds of uses with the potential for a single pair of gloves to prevent nearly 20 pounds of waste that would have resulted from discarded single-use nitrile gloves.
“The best part is you don’t even need to take off the gloves or other protective garments in order to clean them. This material allows you to decontaminate in seconds, so you can get back to the task at hand,” said Bell.
Considering the temperature difference between its outer and inner surfaces, the material is surprisingly supple and lightweight.
Kai Ye, a graduate student in the lab who helped with the research, said the gloves handled the “infectivity test” well and can help protect against other similar viruses.