Instant inactivation of aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 by dielectric filter discharge

PLoS One. 2022 May 19;17(5):e0268049. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268049. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the instant inactivation effect of dielectric filter discharge (DFD) on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) aerosols. The filter consisted of one layer of ZrO2 beads covered by aluminum mesh electrodes; this porous structure of DFD part generates filter-type surface discharge and reactive oxygen species. In a closed cylindrical chamber, DFD treated air flow containing SARS-CoV-2 aerosols, primarily composed of particle diameters of ≤ 1 μm. A polypropylene melt-blown filter collected the treated bioaerosols for inactivation analysis. Plaque and polymerase chain reaction assays showed that the aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 that passed through the filter were more than 99.84% inactivated with degradation of SARS-CoV-2 genes (ORF1ab and E). However, ozone exposure without DFD passage was not found to be effective for bioaerosol inactivation in plaque assay.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aerosols
  • COVID-19*
  • Humans
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • SARS-CoV-2*

Substances

  • Aerosols

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Fundamental Research Program of the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), grant number PNK7400. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea [Nos. 2022M3A9H5017443 and 2020M3A9I4038665], Korea Institute of Materials Science, South Korea [No. PNK8100], and the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (grant number : HG22C0032).