Hong Kong develops anti-bacterial graphene masks, virus activity inactivated within 10 minutes

 Report by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

Image : Ye Ruquan, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at City University, said that the hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties of graphene can kill bacteria. (Photo by Deng Zonghong)

According to Ming Pao, the research team of the Department of Chemistry of the City University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has developed a low-cost and rapid method to make sterilizable graphene masks. The graphene material can kill 99.998% of bacteria in 10 minutes under the sun. Preliminary tests have found that human-like coronaviruses can be lost. The activity will be tested at the end of this year against SARS-CoV-2.

Ye Ruquan, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at CUHK,  on 8 September said that the traditional method of producing graphene is costly and requires extreme environments. For example, chemical vapor deposition requires a high temperature of 800 to 1000 degrees; wet chemistry requires strong acid. Such materials are dangerous. Its team developed a new carbon dioxide laser system as early as 2015 that can operate at room temperature and convert most carbon-containing materials into graphene.

In response to the new graphene production technology, the team conducted further research in September last year and used graphene to make masks, because the surgical masks on the market mainly filter bacteria and do not have the function of killing bacteria.

Ye Ruquan said that the hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties of graphene can kill bacteria, the former can destroy the bacterial membrane, and the latter can accelerate the loss of water by bacteria. After testing, graphene masks can kill 80% of bacteria in a non-light environment, and 99.998% of bacteria can be killed in 10 minutes under sunlight. In addition, the team is preparing to test the antiviral ability of graphene masks. It was initially found that more than 90% of the viruses can be inactivated within 5 minutes, and all viruses will be inactivated after 10 minutes. In November this year, further testing of the effects on SARS-CoV-2 will be conducted.

Ye Ruquan said that the technology is ready and he hopes to negotiate with manufacturers to produce low-cost graphene masks.

Ref : https://news.mingpao.com/ins/%e6%b8%af%e8%81%9e/article/20200908/s00001/1599554892274/%e5%9f%8e%e5%a4%a7%e7%a0%94%e5%8f%af%e6%ae%ba%e8%8f%8c%e7%9f%b3%e5%a2%a8%e7%83%af%e5%8f%a3%e7%bd%a9-%e5%88%9d%e6%ad%a5%e6%b8%ac%e8%a9%a610%e5%88%86%e9%90%98%e6%bb%85%e7%97%85%e6%af%92%e6%b4%bb%e6%80%a7