The radical technologies to keep offices clear of coronavirus

Employers are looking at a range of innovations aimed at making workplaces safe.

Countries are starting to reopen and employers are rushing to make workplaces safe. Engineers might be able to help as some of them are developing radical technologies, such as self-cleaning surfaces, to keep the virus out of offices.

Self-cleaning surfaces

Viruses and bacteria can survive for a long time on surfaces and can be stubbornly resistant to cleaning. On plastics and steel, for example, the novel coronavirus can live for up to 72 hours.

Silver and copper, by contrast, are known to kill viruses and bacteria within four hours. But “the timeframe we need is seconds to minutes, and it needs to be built into the materials”, says Felicity de Cogan, research fellow at the University of Birmingham.

Full article