The University of Coimbra participates in the development of an innovative disinfection closet

English version: Diana Taborda

A research team from the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), through the University of Coimbra Bacteria Culture Collection (UCCCB), and Dynasys, an electronic engineering and telecommunications company based in Setúbal, have joined forces and expertise to develop an innovative, quick and easy-to-use disinfection solution.

The NovirBox is a disinfection closet that uses ultrasonic nebulisation of Inokem's VIRCOV BAC 360 disinfectant to sterilise fabrics, clothing and footwear. "Thanks to the ultrasonic nebulisation technology of NovirBox it is possible to generate an aerosol of the disinfectant with extremely small droplets, which allows the disinfectant to penetrate the pores of clothes' fabrics and reach all parts of the footwear," say the leaders of the company and the FCTUC researchers involved.

NovirBox stands out for being "an automatic, programmable, fast, easy-to-use disinfection system, which can operate at room temperature, and which does not get fabrics or shoes wet. This system can thus become crucial in preventing the spread of infections in clothing and footwear shops, where items are widely manipulated, as well as in spaces such as hospitals, laboratories, gyms, schools, industries, among others," they highlight.

Using its large and diverse collection of microorganisms, UCCCB tested the efficacy of the disinfectant and all NovirBox prototypes against a wide range of microorganisms. "We tested the elimination of bacterial spores, viruses and Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The tests carried out at UCCCB included testing of NovirBox prototypes in the disinfection of fabrics and footwear," explains Paula Morais, director of the Collection of Bacteria Cultures of the University of Coimbra and professor at FCTUC.

The results of this work, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, show that the ultrasonic nebulisation used in NovirBox is highly effective in disinfecting the products tested, in only a few minutes.

The FCTUC scientist notes that the Covid-19 pandemic "highlighted the importance of disinfection processes in health security. Textiles and footwear were identified as vectors of infection dissemination. In addition, the risk of the emergence of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 and new pandemics, such as monkey pox, together with the growing problem of multi-resistant microorganisms, makes it necessary to develop new and better disinfection methods".

Therefore, researchers Paula Morais, Diogo Proença, Beatriz Rito and Tiago Henriques conclude that "finding an efficient method for rapid disinfection of textiles and footwear can be decisive to control the spread of infections. This collaboration between UCCCB and Dynasys represents a good example of its commitment to be close to the community and to contribute to the technological development of industry".

The scientific article can be read at:https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/10472