Inherently anti-viral surfaces: protecting Canadians with field-deployable antiviral coatings

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SARS-CoV-2 will remain a risk to Canadians as they return to work. Although testing, isolation, treatment, and contact tracing are essential, we also want to minimize the risk of virus transfer between people via touching a common surface. This project, led by the University of Windsor and Ontario coatings company Tessonics, combines three different strategies to develop a persistent antiviral coating that can be applied to surfaces and that will destroy the virions on contact. It will be safe for human contact, non-tacky, and comfortable to the touch. It could be applied to door handles in public buildings (hospitals, police or fire departments, employment agencies) and essential retail (grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations), handles on gas pumps, keypads on payment systems, elevator buttons, electrical switches and other surfaces that are awkward to disinfect constantly and are touched by a large number of people. This is especially useful in public shared spaces such as airports and at large utility companies. We aim to use ultra-high boiling point liquids, or polymers based on them, that will not evaporate or spread, but will form a thin liquid coating on a surface able to adsorb and destroy virions. These will be coupled with antiviral nanoparticles to provide dual-functional material. Deploying these materials will increase safety by limiting opportunities for infection and will render our public spaces safer, faster.