Israeli startup company Sonovia, formerly known as Nano Textile, has recently launched amazing new technology that nano-coats textiles found in hotels, restaurants, hospital bedding, patient gowns, and of course your clothes with an ultrasonic semi-permanent, clear, odorless antibacterial, antibacterial, and antifungal shield.
“Microbubbles form inside a specially-designed chemical solution using ultrasound waves,” said Roy Hirsch, Vice President of Business Development of Sonovia in an Israel21c report describing how the process generally worked. “Outside the bubbles, the temperature might be 40 degrees Celsius, but inside it’s around 5,000 degrees. The bubbles collapse and shoot a jet stream onto the nearest surface. It’s like shooting a bullet out of a gun. Inside the solution, there will be thousands of these microbubbles, collapsing and shooting only the chemicals we want onto the surface of the fabric.”
Studies have shown the textiles to remain 100% anti-bacterial even after 65 washing cycles at 92 degrees Celsius and 100 washing cycles at 75 degrees Celsius, according to Jewish Business News. The process is known as “cavitation,” and works on any cotton, silk, or synthetic textile without using chemical binders, whereas other reports suggest any type of fabric may be successfully treated.
“I coated cotton with zinc oxide nano-particles and washed it 65 times in hospital washing machines ... with 75 to 92 degrees Celsius," said Aharon Gedanken, Professor of the Department of Chemistry at the Bar Ilan University, according to Chinese media source Xinhua.
In 2013, studies were conducted with coated bed sheets, pillow covers, and pajamas at Pirogov Hospital in Bulgaria, and Gedanken noted, "a difference in infection rate between the people who slept on our fabric sheets and those who didn't.”
Studies are underway for antibacterial supermarket bags which may increase the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. Samples are also being sent to China to see if the antiviral component of Sonovia’s ultrasonic coating will be useful in coating masks and other protective gear used in combatting the coronavirus. Zinc, silver, and graphite are all potentially viable viral inhibitors, according to scientists, and thus could be potentially useful in saving lives in China.
If approved for use in China, the masks “could be distributed effectively where they are needed most in China as well as being more sustainable to the environment and the local economy,” said Jason Migdal, in charge of business development at Sonovia, according to reports in the Times of Israel.
Sonovia’s initiative has received over 12 million euros in funding from the European Commission Committee, as well as patents in the United States, European Union, and Israel. The company was founded in 2013 in Ramat Gan, just outside Tel Aviv.
Written by Erin Parfet
