Plasma is one of the four basic states of matter. Cold atmospheric plasma is an ionized room-temperature gas. Though it is a relatively new technology, plasma has been proven to be effective in multiple different medical applications including in cancer treatments, wound healing, dentistry and more.
Researchers at UCLA used an atmospheric pressure plasma jet to spray surfaces that were inoculated with SARS-CoV-2 cultures- surfaces included plastic, metal, cardboard, basketball leather, football leather and baseball leather. The strains of the novel coronavirus were killed within 30 seconds to 3 minutes, depending on the surface type. Additional testing showed that the virus was destroyed on cotton from face masks in a similar amount of time.
This is significant as the novel coronavirus has been shown to remain infectious on surfaces for many hours. The authors of this study see clear potential for the use of plasma in stopping the virus’s rapid transmission.
Read the full study here: https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0031332
