The strength of the sun is strong enough to kill viruses like COVID-19 and researchers are looking into harnessing ultraviolet light to disinfect contaminated surfaces.
Ultraviolet LEDs prove effective in eliminating coronavirus from surfaces and, potentially, air and water
Recommended Videos
With current technology, UV LED lights are used for sanitation and purification in medical facilities at the flick of a switch but adopting it for widespread use against the spread of coronavirus must overcome the lethal barrier to humans.
Like UV-A and UV-B sunlight that cause damage to humans, the man-made UV-C is another form of ultraviolet light that is harmful with only brief exposure by causing burns and eye damage.
Materials scientists at the University of California Santa Barbara have been researching the technology before the COVID-19 pandemic and have recently published in the journal ACS Photonics, a more elegant method for fabricating high-quality deep-ultraviolet (UV-C) LED’s.
UV-C is the choice for purifying air and water and for inactivating microbes.
Researchers say the UV-C lights could be a disinfection solution by integrating into systems when no one is present.