Nanoparticles damage the coronavirus unexpectedly, opening the way of doing new disinfection technology

Researchers have discovered a new way of neutralizing the coronavirus and other viruses seated by the membrane of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the University of Tartu. Some mineral nanoparticles have proven to be damaged the virus membrane, which makes it less capable of entering human cells. The demonstrated mode of action has not been discussed in previous research. Technology works at room temperature and also in darkness, offering a range of advantages to disinfect surfaces, air and water.

“Using these new knowledge, it should be easy to create surfaces with antiviral properties by simply spraying them with aqueous solutions of appropriate nanoparticles and letting them dry. It should also be easy to design profitable filters to purify air and contaminated water, “said Professor Vadim Kessler de Slu who directed the work published in On a nanometric scale.

The recent Pandemic COVVI-19 has led to intense search for new types of treatments and disinfection methods that can be used in viral disease epidemics. An area that has received a lot of attention is nanotechnology because it has been shown that tiny particles of certain metals and metal oxides have antiviral properties.

Now, researchers from Slu and the University of Tartu in Estonia have studied the result when certain types of mineral nanoparticles come into contact with a coronavirus, and they have discovered a mode of action that has never been proposed before.

“We now understand what properties of such particles should have to be effective against the coronavirus, and this is a very important step forward,” explains Kessler.

Coronaviruses belong to a type of virus that has an external envelope, a lipid membrane. It turned out that nanoparticles of sand minerals such as titanium oxide are very strongly binded to phospholipids in this membrane. This damages the membrane and leads to the release of viral genetic material, thus making the virus less capable of infecting cells.

A major advantage is that this happens at room temperature and that it does not require any kind of activation. Previously, it was thought that mineral nanoparticles could not destroy viruses by producing so -called reactive oxygen species, which would require lighting with UV light.

The study thus suggests that the surfaces covered with nanoparticles of titanium can destroy wrapped viruses such as coronaviruses and influenza viruses without having to be activated by UV light, and can therefore operate in dark spaces. Other small metal oxides that are strongly binding to phospholipids, such as iron and aluminum oxides, could operate in the same way. Another possible application could be to purify contaminated water in an emergency by adding nanopreparation and allowing the resulting frost to be adjusted.

“The particles we produce are not dangerous for the human body,” adds Angela Ivask, professor of genetics at the University of Tartu. “We have tested them on several cell lines to ensure it.”