Thanks to the industrial partnership with the company GV FILTRI will be produced filters for FFP masks able to destroy the Coronavirus.

A coating that can be applied on any surface with antibacterial, antifungal and, above all, antiviral properties capable of annihilating the Coronavirus. This is the technology invented and patented by the research group of Professor Monica Ferraris of DISAT (Department of Applied Science and Technology) of the Politecnico di Torino.

Thanks to a coating based on silica and silver nanoparticles on which Professor Ferraris’ team has been working for more than 10 years, it will be possible to create safer and more reliable filters for the elimination of any external pathogens, including the virus that causes Covid-19, as demonstrated by the tests conducted by Dr. Elena Percivalle at Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo in Pavia and published in the journal Open Ceramics.

The most recent technology and patent (PCT/IB2018/057639, Monica Ferraris, Cristina Balagna, Sergio Perero) related to it have found the interest of GV Filtri di Baldissero Torinese, a company specialized for 30 years in the development and production of industrial filters. The synergy between University and Business has made it possible to exploit the results of public research, paving the way for the creation of an innovative product with a high economic and social impact.

The agreement reached between Politecnico di Torino and GV Filtri is fundamental for the completion of the technology transfer process of the invention, as it allows GV Filtri to industrialize the application development of the coating on its industrial filters, with the aim of bringing technology to the market by introducing significant innovation in existing products or creating completely new ones.

POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS

• Air filtration system;
• Biomedical devices;
• Everyday-life products (mobile phone);
• Personnel protective systems;
• Portion of aerospace inflatable modulus affected by microbial proliferation.

ADVANTAGES

• Metallic nanoparticles well embedded into the matrix and not released into the environment;
• Metal ion release tailored according to applications;
• High thermal, mechanical and chemical resistance thanks to the matrix;
• Ecofriendly sputtering methods and easily to be scaled up.

Source: Media relation unit of Politecnico di Torino