A PAINT THAT KILLS COVID-19 WITH Cu+1

Elemental copper provides permanent antimicrobial activity, but large surfaces clad in copper are expensive and not the right look for most places. To bring the disinfecting power of copper to a broader range of walls, handrails, and other surfaces around the home and workplace, Corning developed a copper-containing biphasic glass-ceramic material it calls Guardiant and worked with PPG Industries to incorporate it into a line of latex paints called Copper Armor.

The overall idea here was to create a material that maintains the antimicrobial potency of copper while getting rid of its metallic character.

“The overall idea here was to create a material that maintains the antimicrobial potency of copper while getting rid of its metallic character and metallic look so that it could be incorporated into a wide variety of materials and surfaces”. Though the pure Guardiant material is a pale blue-green powder, PPG was able to flex its formulation experience to make the paint in all the normal shades and sheens beyond the industry standard tests, which analyze the kill rate under warm, wet conditions. The paint also got a kill rate of 99.9% while dry at room temperature, much more like what it would see in a real-world setting.