Anti-COVID Paint? Could be….

It’s probably not going to solve the worldwide coronavirus problem overnight, but it’s good to see some developments that look as if they will help.

In May of this year some of the world’s leading coatings specialists gathered (virtually) at the Royal Society of Chemistry, in collaboration with the British Coatings Federation, to discuss how special surface technologies could be used to tackle the global COVID-19 pandemic – mainly anti-viral coatings.

Anti-viral coatings contain agents that prevent microorganisms growing on the surfaces of materials, and are increasingly being researched for potential use in clinics, industry and domestic environments. As well as technical challenges, there are regulatory hurdles that need to be overcome before these materials could be deployed in public spaces.

Helen Pain, Acting CEO of the Royal Society of Chemistry said: “While we already have a number of technologies and techniques at our disposal, there is a clear need to accelerate research output and this meeting represented a crucial step towards advancing that. We are calling on anyone with relevant insights to join our Surface Coatings Interest Group as we further these discussions.”

Some new products are already on the market: Unova products (based in Reading) have released “Aquasafe”, an anti-bacterial and anti-viral paint aimed at schools, restaurants, hotels, healthcare and other public facilities. Unova’s website says the new product has been tested successfully in conjunction with Coronavirus to ISO 21702:2019, and that the anti-viral protection is permanent. We don’t know of of any application instances yet, but it is surely worth checking out.

We’ll let you know if we hear more on this.

In the meantime, your walls aren’t going to paint themselves and the very least we can do is brighten up the world a little as we try to smile behind our masks.

As ever, we’ll welcome your call and promise to get you fast service for any quotation, with the wonderful option of doing it all online with the new RoboQuote system.

Wishing you all the best,

Geoff Parvin
Chemistry Set Owner