Cold Plasma for SARS-CoV-2 Inactivation

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS- CoV-2) endangers lives and spreads via respiratory droplets, transmitting the virus from one subject to another via air and surface transmission. The transmission cycle for human infection can be broken through developing new inactivation approaches. Cold plasma operating at atmospheric pressure and room temperature has been shown great potential in biomedical applications, especially for surface disinfection and virus inactivation. Cold plasma was employed to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 on different surfaces including metal, plastic, basketball composite leather, cardboard, baseball leather, and football leather. The results indicated the great potential of cold plasma as effective and safe methods to prevent virus infections and transmission for surfaces human frequently contacting. In addition, cold plasma-activated media are able to disinfect a wide range of surfaces, including skin and medical PPE, safely and effectively, which offers a cost-effective sterilization solution without the expense and logistics for maintaining supplies and supplies lines required for conventional approaches.