Purdue University

Purdue University may have developed a solution that helps address the issue of certain viruses lingering for up to several days on metal surfaces. According to a recent press release, the university’s engineers have created a laser treatment method that intends to morph metal surfaces from bacteria carriers to bacteria killers.

The approach uses a one-step laser texturing technique that changes the texture of a surface’s finish. In the first study, the group used copper, which is apparently well known for its bacteria-killing properties. But what traditionally would take hours is now an instantaneous process, and researchers actually demonstrated this by observing the texturing process’s ability to instantly kill a superbug like MRSA.

Purdue says the process isn’t exactly tailored for specific viruses like COVID-19 at this point, but they have been testing the process on new metals and polymers. The other benefit to this specific approach is that it’s not toxic like other antibacterial coatings can be. They also say that the simplicity and scalability of the technique has allowed researchers to believe that it could make its way into existing medical device manufacturing processes.