RAPID: Cold Adaptive Atmospheric Plasma Decontamination of COVID-19

  • Funded by National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Total publications:0 publications

Grant number: 2027876

Grant search

Key facts

  • Disease

    COVID-19
  • Start & end year

    2020
    2021
  • Known Financial Commitments (USD)

    $200,000
  • Funder

    National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Principal Investigator

    Michael Keidar
  • Research Location

    United States of America
  • Lead Research Institution

    George Washington University
  • Research Priority Alignment

    N/A
  • Research Category

    Infection prevention and control

  • Research Subcategory

    Barriers, PPE, environmental, animal and vector control measures

  • Special Interest Tags

    Innovation

  • Study Type

    Non-Clinical

  • Clinical Trial Details

    N/A

  • Broad Policy Alignment

    Pending

  • Age Group

    Not Applicable

  • Vulnerable Population

    Not applicable

  • Occupations of Interest

    Not applicable

Abstract

Engineering - The broader impacts of this RAPID project will provide an effective means to control and manage the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) originating from non-biological objects. This effort will lead to rapid development and testing of a new technology to be used against coronaviruses. The current COVID-19 pandemic has generated worldwide awareness for the need to decontaminate the environment and to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus. As SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) was newly introduced into the human realm, uncertainty remains regarding the virus's spread and ways of decontamination. It has been reported that coronaviruses might survive over three days on common materials such as plastics, ceramics, glass and stainless steel. Cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces are important for infection prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections. This includes requirements for surface disinfection, airborne virus decontamination and skin decontamination.

The proposed RAPID project will advance the development of Cold Adaptive Atmospheric Plasma Decontamination as an efficient approach for disinfection. The project will develop a disinfection system based on cold adaptive atmospheric plasma (CA2P), in combination with rapid detection of the contamination on these surfaces. The proposed concept is an adaptive non-thermal plasma system. This plasma-based system will be capable of rapidly scanning for viral colonies on the surface and simultaneously directing the CA2P beam for viral kill. The system will also be tested for treatment of airborne viruses. Compared to current disinfection methods based on wet chemistry (biocidal chemicals), the proposed CA2P technique would not cause corrosion of materials nor create toxic chemicals.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.