UC Santa Barbara Researchers Tweak UV LEDs To Neutralize COVID-19 Virus
April 15th, 2020
Scientists have known for years that ultraviolet light can kill many viruses and bacteria.
Researchers at the UC Santa Barbara Solid State Lighting and Energy Electronics Center
report they are taking that knowledge and using it to create light emitting diodes in the UV spectrum that could sanitize surfaces that may have been contaminated with the COVID-19 virus.
First, a primer. Electromagnetic radiation
is composed of many wavelengths.
Some are used for radio communications, either AM or FM,
others are used to cook food in a microwave oven.
The human eye reacts to some electromagnetic wavelengths, which allows us to see the world around us.
The visible spectrum ranges from red to violet.
Any wavelengths longer than red are called infrared
— below red. Any wavelengths shorter than violet are called ultraviolet —
above violet. None of this has anything to do with the bands Deep Purple or Purple Haze. Got that? Let’s move on.
Killing Virus With Light
While some scientists rush to discover a vaccine that is effective against the COVID-19 virus,
others are working to discover new ways to sanitize areas that may have the virus on their surfaces.
Wiping door handles and light switches with disinfectant is all very good,
but how do you reach deep into ventilating systems where the virus could be hiding?
Ultraviolet LEDs could be one solution.
Christian Zollner, a doctoral candidate at UC Santa Barbara says,
“One major application is in medical situations — the disinfection of personal protective equipment, surfaces, floors, within the HVAC systems, et cetera.”
The work at UC-SB is supported by many corporate partners.
One of them is Seoul Semiconductor,
which reported last week a “99.9% sterilization of coronavirus (COVID-19) in 30 seconds” with its UV LED products.
The technology currently is used to make UV LED lamps that sterilize the interior of unoccupied vehicles.
What we call ultraviolet
is actually three different segments of the EM spectrum.
UV-A and UV-B are the ones commonly supplied to the Earth by the sun.
UV-C is the most effective as a disinfectant but does not occur in nature. It has to be created by humans.
CleanTechnica