An Australian company is copper coating everyday objects like door knobs & touch plates it says can help fight infections like Covid-19.
The Darwin based company, SPEE3D, has developed a new 3D printing process called Activat3D Copper to coat existing Stainless Steel or Brass door furniture-amongst other items-with pure Copper.
The company recently released news of lab tests showing the effectiveness of their copper 3D printed coating against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-1.
According to tests by National Association of Testing Authorities accredited, 360Biolabs, it found 96% effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 after two hours and 99.2% after five hours.
The Covid-19 virus can survive on stainless steel or plastic surfaces for up to three days according to recent U.S. research.
Health experts here have welcomed the SPEE3D announcement according to an Age newspaper article, quoting Dr Bart Eijkelkamp from Flinders University: “To translate that to larger practices such as bed rails, hand rails, seems like a pretty logical extension. It may help.”
According to SPEE3D founder & CEO, Byron Kennedy, “copper fixtures were installed in buildings at Charles
Darwin University in Darwin, Swinburne University in Melbourne, the University of Delaware in the USA and in Japan.”
“The technology can be used globally addressing local requirements, be they in hospitals, schools, on ships or shopping centres,” Mr Kennedy told the media.
Handles, for example, can be coated within five minutes using the technique, with each coating costs about $50 to $100.