Two students from the University of Hong Kong, 17-year-old Sum Ming Wong and 18-year-old Kin Pong Li developed a door handle that uses titanium dioxide that basically self-sanitizes.
In an article published by BoredPanda, Sum Ming Wong and Kin Pong Li discovered that titanium oxide is extremely effective in killing bacteria and works better when exposed to UV light.
They later thought of designing a door a handle made of a comprised glass tube with little aluminum caps both on the top and bottom where the whole glass construction is covered with that same titanium dioxide powder.
The door handle is also covered in a photocatalytic coating where its’ chemical abilities are triggered by light. The chemical reaction that is activated by UV light then decomposes the bacteria collected on the doorknob.
The students said: “We knew that many infections can spread out by contact, for example, SARS, MERS, Foot and Mouth Disease and Candida Auris.”
“Nowadays, people use chemical cleaning materials to clean up public areas, but it is both easy to wipe off and harmful to the human body. Our design has high durability and [is] effective,” they added.
Sum Ming Wong and Kin Pong Li’s invention is now one of the winning entries in the 2019 James Dyson Awards and is currently being considered for the finals.
(Photo source: boredpanda.com)
