Characterization of nano-bubble enabled disinfection system for COVID-19

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There is an urgent need to develop technology for disinfection of large public areas and high-touch surfaces to enable safe communities during COVID-19 pandemic. Around the world, large-scale disinfection efforts are becoming commonplace, which is currently done by sending trucks to spray bleach on entire cities as the country struggles to contain the coronavirus. However, the mass spraying of bleach and industrial cleaning agents raises many troubling questions about environmental and additional health consequences. Therefore, we need alternate environmental friendly yet effective disinfection solutions. The Waterloo research team led by Dr. Mitra in collaboration with Econse will work towards this important goal by bringing ozonized nano-bubbles as an effective solution to disinfect large functional areas by utilizing the inherent disinfectant property of ozone gas. This would involve characterizing the nano-bubbles generated by the OZOCAV system, developed in-house by Econse, in terms of their size and distribution using advanced microscopy, studying the dynamic interaction of nano-bubbles with viral infected surfaces and finally optimizing the ratio of ozone and water mixture to obtain the desired removal rate of bacteria and viruses from surfaces. Once successfully achieved, this innovative disinfection solution will propel the industry partner in marketing their product to large number of end-users, which includes cities, municipalities, commercial buildings, medical facilities and others. This would help to tackle the challenges related to transmission of COVID-19 through surfaces and certainly would create safer operating environment as we move through the second and the third wave of this global pandemic, thereby saving millions of lives worldwide.