A team of Serbian scientists from various fields won third place in the world competition for the best innovations in the fight against the corona. It is an antimicrobial and antiviral powder substance that is applied to ventilation devices. The invention is patented, and the goal of the researchers is to commercialize it with the support of the domestic Science Fund, but also the funds of the American government.
A group of scientists from Serbia won the third place at the international competition of the Association of Inventors “Corona of Innovation”.
Their patent relates to the development of antiviral and antimicrobial materials in preventing the spread of coronavirus in ventilation devices.
Teams from 35 countries participated in the competition, with more than 200 inventions in the field of high sciences and technologies, which had to have a patent application or were already patented, Novosti writes.
Scientists from different fields gathered in our research group. The team is led by Dr. Vladimir Pavlovic, a professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, who has been working at NASA for ten years.
The team also includes Branislav Vlahovic, professor at the Central University of North Carolina, Vera Pavlovic from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Suzana Filipovic from the Institute of Technical Sciences of SANU, Pavle Maskovic from the Faculty of Agriculture in Cacak and Predrag Petrovic, professor at the Cacak Technical Faculty.
“Our invention consists of materials that have antimicrobial and antiviral effects,” says Professor Pavlovic, who has been working at NASA for the development of smart materials for ten years. They can be used as sensors in the protection of the human environment.
“We made a composite material, ie particles of titanium dioxide, apatite and plant extract from our areas, which is applied to filters in ventilation devices. All three components have an antimicrobial effect, which is enhanced in their interaction. For example, titanium dioxide kills microorganisms as an antibiotic, but that does not mean that it can be used in medicine. Research has shown that it gives glass the ability to self-clean,” Pavlovic explains.
The material obtained by our scientists is powder, and their idea is to apply it to the filters of ventilation systems as an antimicrobial barrier. “Research is still ongoing and we cannot say for sure how often the composite should be applied,” says Pavlovic, adding: “This type of material can also be used on surfaces that are not part of ventilation systems.”
Scientists from Pavlovic’s team have been cooperating for ten years. “We are at different addresses, but we often gather around projects. We have been researching the antimicrobial effects of titanium dioxide for several years. We worked during the state of emergency, not only on this patent, but also on others that would be useful in the fight against the corona,” says Pavlovic, BiF reports.
Commercialization in Serbia and the USA
According to him, the goal is for the awarded patent to appear on the market. “We divided the research into two parts, one part we will work on in Serbia through the Science Fund, and for the other we applied for funds within the American government. The award will help us draw attention to our research and make it easier to bring it to an end, “our expert is convinced.
The first place in the world competition went to Lebanon for sustainable sanitary solutions for water and the environment, and the second place went to the Moroccan team for masks that increase the immune response to viruses
