A consortium comprised by firms Braskem, AplFilm and Nanox and the UFSCar (Brazil) and Jaume I of Castellón (Spain) universities have launched a plastic film able to deactivating 99.99% of the new coronavirus in quarter-hour. The new product known as AlpFilm Protect PVC is already accessible on the market.
The scientific collaboration initiated 15 years in the past between the UFSCar and UJI with firm Nanox had already developed in 2014 a product with antifungal and bactericidal properties: a clear PVC film with silver microparticles which has now given method to the know-how patented by Nanox wih the assist of the Vinyl Application Engineering group of Braskem and AlpFilm.
Silica is a semiconductor that turns into energetic with metallic silver to generate extremely oxidative molecules able to deactivating 79.9% of the new coronavirus in three minutes and 99.99% in simply quarter-hour. The product is already accessible on the market and is often used to pack meals gadgets equivalent to meat, fruit, greens and chilly meats, and will now even be used to guard surfaces.
The assessments to confirm the energy of the new plastic packages to suppress SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have been performed at the degree 3 biosecurity laboratory of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of São Paulo (ICB-USP) in compliance with ISO 21702:2019, the technical commonplace to measure the antiviral exercise in plastics and different non-porous surfaces. Companies Braskem and AlpFilm improved the film’s formulation, maximising the safety potential in opposition to fungi and micro organism, attaining the virucidal impact.
The know-how developed by Nanox, managed by physician Gustavo Simões, had the assist of the Innovative Research Programme for Small Companies (PIPE) of the FAPESP, and the scientific steering of professor Elson Longo from the Centre for the Development of Functional Materials (CDMF), the Federal University of São Carlos and professor Juan Andrés Bort, head of the Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry of the Jaume I University of Castellón.
For Braskem, the effectivity of the materials strengthens the relevance of plastic in initiatives aimed toward the well being and security of society. “Plastic has been a great ally against the coronavirus pandemic. PVC solutions enable the production of a series of essential products ranging from medical and hospital products to packages, which ensure food safety, hygiene and cleanliness, among other factors, bolstering the fight against COVID-19,” explains Almir Cotias, Vinyls director at Braskem Business, division answerable for the manufacturing of the uncooked materials for PVC film AlpFilm Protecto.
“The product existed since 2014 with antifungal and bactericidal properties thanks to the presence of silver microparticles,” explains Alessandra Zambaldi, director of Foreign Trade and Marketing of AlpFilm, “but with the pandemic, we subjected it to a series of studies to adapt its composition in order to ensure its antiviral efficiency. Faced with the challenges imposed by COVID-19, we decided to focus our attention on researching and developing this product evolution to deactivate the new coronavirus by contact.”
AlpFilm is certainly one of the foremost producers of PVC plastic movies in Brazil, with a month-to-month manufacturing of 450 tonnes of fabric. Since 2014, the firm sells plastic movies with silver microparticles for the packaging of meals in supermarkets and for residence use, as a way to present safety in opposition to fungi and micro organism. It is a Brazilian household firm, created in 1998 underneath the identify Alpes Indústria e Comércio de Plásticos Ltds, which in 2002 took on the identify it offers to its merchandise: AlpFilm.
Plastic film used to guard meals and surfaces inactivates novel coronavirus
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Asociacion RUVID