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Chinese company produces fabric that kills COVID-19

22 Feb '21

3 min read

Pic: PR Newswire

Jinan Shengquan Group Share Holding Co (SQ Group) in partnership with Hong Kong Nano and Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI) has developed an antiviral, antibacterial fabric which, it claims, kills 100 per cent of the COVID-19 virus under experimental conditions. The activity is retained even after 30 washes, with fabric killing over 99 per cent of viruses.

According to the report, the fabric, which is named Nano-VTS, is treated with a special biopolysaccharide material, and able to kill 100 per cent of the COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) under experimental conditions. This specially designed fabric can provide a long-term and effective prevention against COVID-19 virus infection and is currently being used to mass-produce masks and other personal protective equipment.

Recently in Jinan, an appraisal meeting was held to discuss the scientific and technological achievements of SQ Group's Nano-VTC antibacterial, antiviral material. Jiang Shicheng, academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Sun Gang, director of the Heilongjiang Animal Disease Prevention and Control Centre, and Guan Yuntao, biosafety review expert with the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, attended the meeting and called the breakthrough as being a positive step forward in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic both domestically and abroad. Given the absence of such fabrics being used around the world, the attendees concluded that this fabric has extensive application value and recommended its accelerating production and distribution.

The antiviral effectivity of Nano-VTS has been verified by international and third-party institutes. So far, the fabric has passed international standard antiviral and safety tests in US Microbac, British Intertek, Swiss SGS, Guangdong Detection Centre of Microbiology, CNTAC Testing Centre, and German Hohenstein. Patents have been filed around the world to protect its intellectual property.

The newly developed Nano-VTS antibacterial and antiviral fabric effectively kills three of the seven currently known coronaviruses that can infect humans - COVID-19, SARS, and HCoV-229E. Test data from Chinese high-level biosafety laboratories confirm that the fabric can kill 100 per cent of the COVID-19 virus within 60 minutes. The British Virology Research Services (VRS), an independent third-part testing agency, confirmed the findings that the virus was reduced by 90 per cent within five minutes of contact with the fabric and 99.99% after 120 minutes.

According to reports, the biopolysaccharide polymer structure in the fabric can actively adsorb and capture bacteria and viruses by contacting, which are then killed through biological activity. As it is the structure of the fabric that makes it effective, even after 30 washes, it is still able to kill over 99 per cent of the viruses. This resilience means the Nano-VTS antiviral, antibacterial fabric is ideal for daily use without frequent replacement.

The SQ Group masks produced with this fabric have already passed the EU mask standard CWA17553-2020 test and entered the market. In the future, this fabric could also be used in gloves, PPE, hospital bed sheets, and public transportation seat covers.

Experts believe that in terms of epidemic-prevention, anything that can limit the infectivity of surfaces in high-population and high-risk areas will be of great value.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SV)