William Ducker1
Virginia Tech1
If the microbes can be transferred via surfaces, then antimicrobial coatings can be utilized on common-touch surfaces to reduce disease transmission. Here we describe experiments showing that the causative virus of COVID-19 can be transferred to fingers from common surfaces. The transfer is more efficient if the material is non-porous and still wet from the droplet. Having demonstrated the possibility of transfer, we describe the preparation of antimicrobial coatings based based on polydopamine (PDA) adhesive, which has the useful property that the monomer can be sprayed, and then the monomer polymerizes in a conformal film at room temperature. Two copper-based coatings are described, one that utilizes Cu from electroless deposition as the active ingredient and the other that utilizes Cu<sub>2</sub>O particles. A critical aspect is that the coatings are transparent, which means that they do not negatively impact aesthetics, and can be used on touch screens that might be used by multiple users. Both coatings kill >99% of the bacterial pathogens <i>Pseudomonas</i><i> aeruginosa</i> and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in 10 minutes, and inactivate > 99.9% of SARS-CoV-2 virus in 1 hr.