A university-based startup and a dyeing and finishing company began Monday selling online products made from photocatalytic copper fiber sheets, which have antibacterial and antiviral properties.
The Gunma University-based venture Gunma University Development and Innovation (GUDi) and Asakura Senpu Co., both of which are based in Kiryu city in Gunma Prefecture, have manufactured four kinds of products for online sales, including face mask covers. The two companies are said to be experimenting to discover whether their products are effective in preventing coronavirus and other viral infections.
The GUD sheet, as the sheet has been named, was developed jointly by GUDi and Meisei Industry Co. in Maebashi, the capital of the prefecture, based on technology related to titanium dioxide photocatalysts, for which the university filed a patent application.
Photocatalysts are harmless to humans, and when they are exposed to visible lights such as sunlight and light from a light bulb, they will decompose bacteria and viruses into water and carbon dioxides. Copper is noted for its high bactericidal effect. The coronavirus can live and remain active for only four hours on a copper sheet, far shorter than the 48 to 72 hours recorded in the case of plastic and stainless steel sheets, according to studies conducted at a U.S. university and elsewhere.
The GUD sheet, which focused on these points, was made by weaving chemical fibers covered with thin copper and coating them with powdered photocatalysts that would remain even if washed. Experiments showed the amount of E. coli dropped to 1/10000 in about 30 minutes in the case of GUD sheets, compared to one-tenth in the case of ordinary copper fiber sheets.
"High antibacterial and antiviral results can be expected from the combination of photocatalysts and copper," said GUDi Chair and Prof. Hideyuki Itabashi in the Department of Environmental Engineering Science at Gunma University. He added that experiments would be conducted to examine the speed with which photocatalytic copper sheets inactivate the new coronavirus, thereby confirming the effect it could have on preventing infection.
Asakura Senpu is selling a set of two GUD masks (4,980, yen tax not included), which are made from swimsuit materials. The GUD sheet covers are to be worn over a mask. Even if masks are touched by hands that have been contaminated with a virus after touching a doorknob and other objects, the GUD sheet covers would render the virus inactive. As the sheet can be cut by scissors and sewed by a sewing machine, the company is also selling GUD sheets to be fashioned at home (24 cm x 20 cm: 6,980, yen tax not included).
"From the viewpoint of promoting industry, the government and academia working together to prevent virus infections, I would like to study measures such as introducing GUD sheets that would cover the doorknobs at city hall buildings and also using them as return gifts for those who donate to the city in a hometown tax deduction plan," said Kiryu Mayor Keiji Araki.
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