Annual Report 2007

I n October 2001, anthrax spores delivered in letters killed five people and infected 17 others. Clearing the Senate office building of the spores cost $27 million, according to the Government Accountability Office. Cleaning the Brentwood postal facility outside Washington, D.C., cost $130 million and took 26 months. GTRI researchers, in collaboration with Austin-based Stellar Micro Devices, Inc. (SMD), have developed prototypes of a rapid, non-disruptive and less expensive method that could be used to decontaminate future bioterrorism hazards. Using flat panel modules that produce X-rays and ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light simultaneously, the researchers can kill anthrax spores in two to three hours without any lingering effects. The system also has the ability to kill hidden anthrax spores without causing damage. The current decontamination standard, chlorine dioxide gas, cannot reach hidden spores and people cannot enter the affected spaces until the gas is neutralized and vented from the building. “This is certainly an improvement over previous techniques,” said Brent Wagner, GTRI principal research scientist and director of its Phosphor Technology Center of Excellence (PTCOE). “The UV-C attacks spores on surfaces and the X-rays penetrate through materials to kill spores in cracks and crevices.” GTRI became involved in SMD’s project, which was funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Small Business Innovation Research program, because the PTCOE housed UV-C phosphors created and patented by Sarnoff Corporation in the mid1970s. “We knew Georgia Tech had experts in powder phosphors with regard to flat panel displays and we approached them to develop new phosphors for our decontamination purpose,” said Mark Eaton, president and CEO of SMD. Wagner and senior research scientist Hisham Menkara optimized a phosphor that emits UV-C, which destroys an organism’s DNA. They hope to develop more efficient UV-C phosphors for sterilizing medical equipment or purifying water. “We may be able to use UV-C panels to clean wastewater, which would be better than the lamps currently used. In the environment where the lamps must operate, they are very difficult to clean, whereas flat panels could be cleaned with a squeegee,” added Eaton. Researchers are using improved phosphors in a combination X-ray/ UV-C system to kill anthrax spores. www.gtri.gatech.edu 11 http://www.gtri.gatech.edu

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Annual Report 2007

Annual Report 2007 Contents From the Director Research at GTRI Defense and Security Health and Human Systems Energy and Environment Manufacturing Technologies Information and Communication Technologies GTRI Around the World Interdisciplinary Research Centers The Laboratories of GTRI Georgia Tech Ireland GTRI by the Numbers GTRI and Georgia Tech Supporting Breakthrough Research GTRI Professional Education The People of GTRI

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.