A research team led by Dr. Seunghun Lee in the Department of Nano-Bio Convergence at the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) succeeded in developing a film-type plasma device for quarantine and air-conditioning equipment that can inactivate more than 99% of the aerosol of COVID-19 virus collected in the filter in 30 minutes. The technology can simultaneously capture and inactivate infectious bioaerosols such as COVID-19 and influenza viruses. KIMS is a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The technology was transferred to Vals Innovation, a specialist in low-temperature plasma technology, and commercialized in June. The quarantine and air conditioning product developed by Vals Innovation is a film-type plasma device that generates reactive oxygen species and effectively removes the COVID-19 virus captured in the filter. The catalyst technology to remove ozone was applied to the product and an internationally accredited testing institute confirmed that the ozone concentration was maintained below 0.002 ppm.

Through an R&D support project by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, KIMS verified that the quarantine and air conditioning module commercialized by Vals Innovation can inactivate more than 99.8% of the COVID-19 virus. The related research was approved for publication on October 20 in ACS Applied Polymer Materials, a journal of the American Chemical Society.

A test bed demonstration project will utilize the air conditioning equipment to improve indoor air quality for households vulnerable to quarantine in Seoul (the elderly living alone, etc.). KIMS announced that it will provide free quarantine and air-conditioning equipment of Vals Innovation to 30 households of the elderly living alone in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, and 30 households that are vulnerable to infection in Seongbuk-gu.

"The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is remaining and we cannot guarantee that a similar situation will not happen in the future. We will continue to carry out the research to prepare a future crisis response system and secure public safety.” Jung-hwan Lee, the President of KIMS, said.