SBIR Phase I: Rapid disinfection using compact plasma reactors for COVID-19

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is a convenient, effective, green and economical disinfection solution for everyday items contaminated with pathogens, specifically SARS-CoV-2. This project will develop a portable, compact, and low-power disinfection product using ozone. The proposed solution will address items otherwise difficult to treat with conventional methods such as wipes, UV exposure, and autoclave. Furthermore, it is free of long-term toxic residuals, with excess ozone converted back to oxygen. This will support the mitigation of social distancing policies and applications include personal protection equipment such as disinfecting masks, gloves, suits, equipment, etc., as well as household items.This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a convenient, effective, green and economical disinfection unit, based on Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) generated ozone, to remove pathogen contamination. The solution uses embedded compact plasma reactor systems to generate ozone in-situ from atmospheric air and simultaneously distributing it within the box. This eliminates the need for external gas tanks or mixing agents. The proposed project will advance the Active Plasma Module (APM) - a compact, energy-efficient DBD generation device. Research objectives include testing DBD plasma against SARS CoV-2, determining optimum operating conditions (exposure times, ozone concentrations, surface to volume ratios, input power), and testing disinfection on commonly used materials like fabric, latex, etc. This entails designing DBD reactors for APMs and for their integration in an enclosed system, as well as testing of SARS-CoV-2 inactivation under varying operating conditions. This system is expected to rapidly inactivate SARS-CoV-2 while overcoming limitations of conventional disinfection technologies like high temperatures, material incompatibility and ineffective disinfection of obstructed surfaces.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.