ASU student-run lab creates low-cost sterilization systems to fight COVID-19

While N95 respirators have become in high demand due to COVID-19, they are meant to be disposable. But because of widespread shortages during the pandemic, respirators have had to be reused. 

Now, a student-led team at the Luminosity Lab at ASU has created two sterilization systems to help sterilize N95s and much more. 

The Luminosity Lab is a research and development lab that is designed to bring students together, away from the red tape of the world, to innovate, Nikhil Dave, the student leader on the project, said. 

Using hydrogen peroxide for one system and ozone for the other, the students were able to design two machines at a much lower cost and smaller scale than machines used to sterilize the materials in large scale hospitals. 

When COVID-19 became a known issue, these students created the PPE Response Network, which allows health care providers, producers of personal protective gear and processors who sterilize the equipment to work together.

Typical sterilization machines for N95s are larger and more expensive, leaving smaller businesses out of the equation. That led to this project at the lab.  

N95 respirators differ from surgical masks because they form a seal around the mouth and nose, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked the general public not to use masks intended for health care workers, like N95s.

According to a survey by McKinsey and Company, people in larger cities are more likely to use N95 respirator masks versus surgical and cloth masks. 

There are both surgical and standard N95s, the difference being that surgical N95s are meant for health care professionals who may be exposed to large amounts of blood or bodily fluid. Both surgical and standard N95s are approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. 

As most people expect to see masks in some form as a part of their daily routine for a while, a more efficient and sustainable way to reuse them was a big motivator for the team. 

“PPE is going to be a part of our lives,” Katie Pascavis, one of the students on the project, said.

When asked why people can’t just wash N95s like they do cloth masks, Pascavis said one of the inventors, David Wallace, came up with a good explanation.  

"An N95 is like a Kleenex — only meant for one-time use, but quite effective at preventing the spread of germs," Pascavis said.

Some N95s are made out of electrostatic fibers, which means the masks attract particles. If they are washed, they would lose that ability, lowering their performance. Also, N95s are meant to fit snugly, so washing them could change their shape. 

John Patterson, one of the students on the team, described the two sterilization units they created: the vaporized hydrogen peroxide system and the ozone sterilization system. He said the ozone system is being tested to sterilize things such as school supplies and technology, while the hydrogen peroxide system is mostly used for masks. 

The hydrogen peroxide system uses store-bought hydrogen peroxide and a vacuum pump to vaporize the hydrogen peroxide, which sterilizes the masks. 

The ozone system uses electricity and oxygen to sterilize the masks. Patterson said while everyone knows about O2, or oxygen, when the air is ionized it turns in O3, or ozone. 

“Plug it in and let it go,” Patterson said.

The team created the ozone system with N95 masks in mind, but Dave said they have changed gears and are testing the system beyond that. 

Pascavis said they are testing other items the ozone system could sterilize. At that time she was testing an iPad, laptop, headphones and some other school supplies. She said they are watching the objects to see if they become damaged or weaken in their performance, but so far the tests have shown no change. 

Pascavis said the data is not yet published and is in the research phase. 

“There’s a lot of different applications we could use (the ozone system) for, to help school systems and even people at home,” Pascavis said. “One thing I'm interested in is helping students in a dorm room that maybe don’t have direct access to a washer and dryers. So they have more present — and right there — sanitization technology at their fingertips to help them fight COVID when they’re kind of stuck in a dorm room." 

With Arizona’s schools set to open by Aug. 17, the ozone system could offer methods for sterilization and sanitation, Pascavis and Patterson said. 

While it takes about 2.5 hours for the ozone system to completely sterilize an item, Patterson said it could take less than an hour to sanitize. He said that in many cases sanitization could do the job. 

“Sterilization would be like the measure you need in a hospital, versus sanitization, 99.9%, same as you see on bottles of hand sanitizer,” Pascavis said.    

Patterson said both machines can be rigged to a much larger or smaller scale depending on what a business needs. 

“If anyone reads this story and is like ‘Hey I could make use of one of these systems, or I know someone that wants 10,’” Dave said, “reach out to us as soon as possible and we’re happy and open to have conversations with anyone who is interested.”

To learn more about either of The Luminosity Labs systems reach out to Nikhil Dave at ndave4@asu.edu or the director, Mark Naufel at mnaufel@asu.edu.