New Coronavirus Surface Killer Called 'Game Changer'

Senior Yard Supervisor Lipi Vitolio disinfects the interior surface of a bus at Tranzit Bus Depot on May 09, 2020 in Wellington, New Zealand.
Photo credit Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

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Necessity is the mother of invention, right?

Well, anyone freaked out by touching doorknobs or shopping carts would certainly call this a necessity. It’s being concocted in the chemical labs at Virginia Tech.

"We do an undercoat of polyurethane, like you might have on a hardwood floor in your house," said Dr. William Ducker, part of the Chemical Engineering Department at Virginia Tech. "Then we have a second coating that has the active ingredient, which is cuprous oxide. So, it’s made from recycled copper."

Cuprous oxide - that's the key ingedient that kills the coronavirus in under an hour.

Is #COVID19 fear running rampant in your household?A @VTEngineering professor has you covered (and coated) with his development of a surface coating that when painted on common objects, inactivates the virus that causes COVID-19 in one hour.➡️ https://t.co/JpV9ETrwLT pic.twitter.com/i1iWAQurvO

— Virginia Tech (@virginia_tech) July 16, 2020

"We can just convert the copper in a simple processor, adding oxygen, you get cuprous oxide," Dr. Ducker told KCBS Radio. "We impregnate the surface of the object with the cuprous oxide, and that inactivates the virus."

It could be on the market as soon as an investor comes forward.

"I think it would be great," Dr. Ducker said. "If people or companies are interested in doing that should contact me at Virginia Tech, investors that are interested in that. We’re absolutely ready to go. I think it could be a matter of weeks."

Who's ready to pony up?

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