Virus Elimination Using High-Voltage Pulses in Aqueous Solutions

This article presents the results of the research conducted on bacteriophages inactivation using high-voltage (HV) short electric pulses. The bacteriophages are bacterial viruses, which share similar basic features in their structure to other viruses, so that they may be considered a first choice model for experimental studies on viral pathogens, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2). The aqueous solution of bacteriophages was subjected to the influence of high electric-field pulses, provided by a Marx generator. It had been observed that the electric discharge was a two-stage process where the initial inrush charging current was followed by a formation of a discharge channel due to local charge trapping and a secondary burst of current. The possible explanation of inactivation of bacteriophages could be due to the formation of discharge plasma observed during the experiments, followed by likely creation of radical species. Other plausible additional mechanisms include irreversible electroporation. Two different electrode configurations with different electric-field spatial distributions were examined. A complete 100% inactivation of the bacteriophages was achieved in the system featuring the uniform field distribution. This article novelty lies in the fact that it demonstrates 100% effectiveness of the HV pulses treatment in elimination of viruses, and proposes a method of capturing these pathogens from air.