17th February 2021 10:38 am 17th February 2021 10:40 am
Researchers at Wolverhampton University have announced the development of an antiviral material which can be 3D printed and kills the COVID-19 virus.
The material is made from copper, silver and tungsten and was created using a selective laser melting (SLM) 3D printing technique, the team said.
Drawing on its expertise in 3D printing microbial biomaterials, the university’s Additive Manufacturing Functional Materials (AMFM) research group wanted to investigate antiviral materials that could help to reduce airborne and surface-based virus transmission.
Led by the university’s John Robinson, Dr Arun Arjunan and Dr Ahmad Baroutaji, the Wolverhampton researchers partnered with the Ángel Serrano-Aroca’s group from the Catholic University of Valencia’s Biomaterials and Bioengineering Lab for rapid material development and anti-Covid-19 viral analysis.
The startup ZeroAvia is developing technology to power airplanes with hydrogen fuel cells.
It recently won backing from Bill Gates Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Amazon, and Shell.
Major challenges lie in the path to hydrogen-powered flight. ZeroAvia says it s eating away at them.
When hydrogen gas inside the Hindenburg exploded in 1937, the era of airship travel came to an end.
Now the very same gas is reentering the aviation industry. And this time it s kicking off a new era one of zero-carbon travel.
Hydrogen can be used in fuel cells to power electric motors or combusted to drive an engine. Either way, the gas doesn t generate carbon emissions if it s made using renewable energy.