Liquid Metal Coating Creates Effective Antiviral, Antimicrobial Fabric

Researchers used liquid gallium to create an antiviral and antimicrobial coating and tested it on a range of fabrics including facemasks. The coating adhered more strongly to fabric than some conventional metal coatings and eradicated 99 percent of several common pathogens within five minutes. Metallic surface coatings, such as copper or silver, are an effective way to eradicate pathogens but many metal particle coating technologies have issues such as non-uniformity, processing complexity, or poor adhesion.