Cobalt-Chromium-Molybdenum Alloy Kills COVID-19 in Minutes

The November 2021 International Journal of Molecular Sciences online article “3D Printed Cobalt-Chromium-Molybdenum Porous Superalloy with Superior Antiviral Activity” reviews research investigating the novel use of Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) to additive manufacture (AM) a porous Cobalt-Chromium-Molybdenum (Co-Cr-Mo) superalloy with potent antiviral activity (100% viral inactivation in 30 min). The Co-Cr-Mo material, commonly used in industrial AM medical and aerospace applications, exhibited superior antiviral properties, outperforming common antiviral metals such as silver and copper.

The project was led by Dr. Arun Arjunan, Dr. Ahmad Baroutaji, and John Robinson, University of Wolverhampton, Telford, United Kingdom, and supported by Ángel Serrano-Aroca, Miguel Marti, and Alberto Tuñón-Molina, Spanish Catholic University, Valencia, Spain. The program assessed the antiviral performance of different AM materials that could offer the potential for preventative virus transmission and on-demand manufacturing.

“Virus transmission can be direct (human-to-humans) or indirect (airborne and/or contaminated surfaces) including respiratory droplets and therefore face masks have been reintroduced and again have become mandatory in many community settings,” stated Dr Arjunan.

“As airborne droplets below five microns can contain infectious SARS-CoV-2 and can remain suspended in the air for three hours masks do offer some protection from the transmission,” he continued. “However, surfaces on the other hand can sustain infectious viruses from a few hours to nine days depending on the surface material and morphology. For example, stainless steel that is widely found in hospitals and medical settings can sustain SARS-CoV-2 survival for seven days. Therefore, with the emergence of potential vaccine evasive variants antiviral materials that inactivate the virus offer much potential for transmission prevention.”