Biological warfare technology born at West Texas A&M University to protect soldiers from anthrax has been re-adapted and deployed across campus to protect door handles from viruses and bacteria.
Doors across West Texas A&M University soon will receive Copper Clean stickers over handles and push plates. The stickers — basically a highly engineered copper-alloy foil with an adhesive backing — are the newest product developed by Engineering Dean Emily Hunt and a group of ambitious graduate engineering students working to commercialize patents they have obtained for West Texas A&M University and the Texas A&M University System.
Along with standard infection control practices, these stickers will help alleviate the microbial burden on these high-touch surfaces across campus.
“The stickers are made with a copper alloy that has been proven to kill 99.9 percent of harmful pathogens, like MSRA, Staph. auerus and E. coli within two hours,” Hunt says. Soon, they will be tested against other pathogens, including COVID-19.See a video about Copper Clean adhesives here.
“Sometimes a complex problem requires a commonsense solution,” says John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M System. “Dr. Hunt and her team deserve a lot of credit for doing their part to address the biggest problem facing the world today.”
Copper is one of the oldest known antimicrobials. Applying it to high-touch surfaces was a challenge Hunt and her materials science engineering students first took on in 2016.
“We recognized way back then that there are many surfaces in the world that our hands share with others,” Hunt says. “These areas, which we call ‘high-touch,’ are very susceptible to picking up, harboring, and transferring microorganisms among people.”
Hunt, a Canyon native, began her research into antimicrobial materials in 2009 when she was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation to pursue her ideas to protect soldiers and civilians from biological weapons of mass destruction.
The Department of Defense adopted Hunt’s ideas for use in military gas masks. Then she and her team worked to convert the military technology into commercial and consumer applications.
They formed Buffalo Technology Group, a Texas-limited partnership whose stakeholders include West Texas A&M, the Texas A&M University System, and Frontier Capital Group, a private equity firm. Buffalo Technology Group has successfully patented and sold several products already, including MIC-Guard, a ceramic-metallic powder used in various coatings, linings, and molded products in several industrial applications to inhibit iron-eating microorganisms and biofouling.
Copper Clean stickers are made at an EPA-approved, American manufacturer, Hunt says. The first batch arrived just this week. West Texas A&M will be the first customer, but Hunt says Buffalo Technology Group is already talking to school districts across the state who are interested.
“At a time when the whole world is more cognizant than they have ever been about the prevalence and danger of harmful microorganisms, my hope for these patches is that they are implemented in areas where large quantities of healthy, sick, and immunocompromised individuals share high-touch surfaces,” Hunt says.
The stickers are for sale for $24.50 at www.coppercleanus.com. Proceeds from their sales will go back into funding more research on campus.
About the Texas A&M University System The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation with a budget of $6.3 billion. The system is a statewide network of 11 universities; a comprehensive health science center; eight state agencies, including the Texas Division of Emergency Management; and the RELLIS Campus. The Texas A&M System educates more than 151,000 students and makes more than 22 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. System-wide, research, and development expenditures exceeded $1 billion in FY 2019 and helped drive the state’s economy.
Courtesy of the Texas A&M University System
