: Published: 22 February 2022

GALVI: Innovative paint to fight coronavirus – new publication in Scientific Reports

The popular method of combating microorganisms involving the use of biocidal preparations is highly criticized due to the content of chemicals harmful to humans and the risk of the creation of strains with increased chemical resistance and virulence. Thanks to many years of cooperation between the ALCOR Research and Production Center (ALCOR) and the Institute of Botany PAS, a technology has been developed that is devoid of these drawbacks. It uses the antimicrobial properties of the electromagnetic field generated by galvanic microcells made of metal particles (mainly copper and zinc). The technology has been applied in practice in the form of the family of GALVI paints (coatings with galvanic microcells) – a globally innovative product designed to protect indoor surfaces, building facades, cultural heritage objects (e.g. sculptures), elements of medical infrastructure etc. from microbial colonization. The product was granted patent protection in 2018 (patent no. PL229012).

Recently, a team of scientists led by Wojciech Spisak from ALCOR, including Krzysztof Stachowicz from IB PAS, showed that the GALVI-19 paint coating (one of GALVI products) deactivates over 99% of human coronavirus particles depositing on its surface in just 4 hours! It is enough for copper to cover 4.4% of this surface to provide environmentally safe, continuous antiviral protection. Such high efficiency is obtained through the appropriate degree of uniformity and aggregation of galvanic microcells – parameters that have been determined by the research team. Virucidal activity was confirmed in accordance with ISO 21702 for the human coronavirus NL63 as a model organism. The use of GALVI-19 paint in rooms allows them to be cleaned of coronaviruses without the use of disinfectants, harmful to both the environment and human health. It is also a solution that is easy to apply, because the paint is applied just like in regular painting.

The research results were published in the article:

Spisak W., Kaszczyszyn M., Szar M., Kozak J., Stachowicz K. 2022. Antiviral activity of galvanic microcells of zinc and copper contained within painted surfaces. Scientific Reports 12: 1368. DOI

You can read more about the GALVI technology in other articles by the ALCOR & IB PAS team of scientists:

Chlebicki A., Spisak W., Lorenc M.W., Śliwa L., Wołowski K. 2021. Electromagnetic field as agent moving bioactive cations. A new antimicrobial system in architecture technology. Applied Sciences 11: 8320. DOI

Spisak W., Chlebicki A., Kaszczyszyn M., Szar M., Kozak J., Olma A. 2020. Three electrode galvanic microcells as a new antymicrobial tool. Scientific Reports 10: 7341. DOI

Spisak W., Chlebicki A., Kaszczyszyn M. 2016. Galvanic microcells as control agent of indoor microorganisms. Scientific Reports 6: 35847. DOI

GALVI-19 paint specification is available on the manufacturer's website.