HOUSTON – A new nanocoating from Curran Biotech can effectively and cheaply stop the spread and lingering impacts of the Covid-19 virus when applied to the filter fabrics in common HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems.
Curran’s Capture Coating permanently bonds to the porous materials within a filter, stopping viruses, bacteria and fungi dead, while not impacting airflow or breathability.
With the emergence of the worldwide pandemic, a new approach to protecting buildings and inside air from the transmission of contagions has been required, and the hydrophobic nanocoating was developed to combat the airborne nature of the coronavirus.
Standard air filters are rated using the MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) system – with MERV8 typical for public buildings. With the Curran Biotech Capture Coating, these filters outperform much higher rated filters in terms of viral protection, without impacting airflow (static air pressure).
“Rather than just using a form of detergent to kill the virus in real time – with no real long-lasting benefits – we approached the problem of protecting buildings from airborne transmission in a different way,” says Curran CEO Eileen Mellon. “We have developed a nanoscale coating that can wrap itself around the individual fibres of HVAC air filtration media, rendering them superhydrophobic without affecting critical HVAC operational parameters.”
Curran Biotech treated filters operate normally with regard to dust and other dry particulates but reject aqueous/liquid-phase contaminants. Because the coronavirus in its most infectious state is surrounded by an aqueous liquid-phase environment, Capture Coating physically stops the virus at the surface of the air filter.
Capture Coating is being made available now from distributors and retailers across the globe. It is already being used in eleven states across the USA and expects this to be expanded to 25 with the next few weeks.
“2020 has forced us to rethink things,” says Becky Scott, Curran’s chief marketing officer. “Being able to participate in life – to breathe without worry – is normal, right? We can’t always be outside. We’ve developed an innovative nanocoating that makes your regular air filters work better – it stops the virus – without impacting breathability.”
