In the face of a global pandemic, everyone is looking for ways to get involved and sooner overcome the difficulties. ISSP UL also had the opportunity to participate in two of the projects on “Mitigation of Covid-19 effects” and contribute to the fight against the invisible enemy.
Project implementation had to be done in a very short time - 6 months (from July 1 to December 31). This was an opportunity to use already existing research applications, adapt them to specific needs of the projects, mobilize researchers to work in a team with researchers from other Latvian universities and scientific research institutions, and ultimately create prototypes ready for production or applications for wide scale use.
One of the projects “Integration of reliable technologies for protection against Covid-19 in healthcare and high-risk areas” (VPP-COVID-2020/1-0004) was implemented by Riga Technical university, Rezekne academy of technology; University of Latvia, Institute of Electronics and Computer Science, Latvian institute of Organic synthesis; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia; Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre; Riga Stradins university and Latvian institute of Wood Chemistry. More than 80 scientists were involved in this project. The project has received a very positive evaluation from the Latvian Council of Sciences.
The project at the ISSP UL was managed by the head and leading researcher of Thin films laboratory Dr. habil.phys. Juris Purāns. The overall objective of the project was to provide medical institutions with up-to-date information and technologies that would help reduce the risk of infection and reduce the workload of medical staff. Within the framework of the project, ISSP UL studied the anti-microbial effect of different types of WO3-x, WO3-x:Cu, Cu, WO3-x/Cu/WO3-x thin coatings, as well as the possibilities of improving the chemical and mechanical strength of these coatings.
Magnetron sputtering technology was used to obtain coatings. Variation of process parameters provided opportunity to obtain coatings with different physical-chemical properties, and to variate chemical composition. The ability of obtained coatings to transmit visible light provided the possibility to use coatings on protective screens, contact surfaces, and in protective suit visors.
https://www.cfi.lu.lv/en/about-us/news/detailed-view/t/62189/
https://www.cfi.lu.lv/en/about-us/news/detailed-view/t/62190/
Other project on “Mitigation of Covid-19 effects ”Development of new therapeutic and prophylactic treatments against Covid-19 and coronaviruses” (VPP-COVID-2020/1-0014) was implemented by Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Center (BMC), Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia (ISSP UL); Riga Technical University; University of Latvia. Project manager from ISSP UL head and leading researcher from Laboratory of Prototyping of Electronic & Photonic Devices Dr.sc.ing Gatis Mozoļevskis.
The overall project objective was to develop new vaccine candidate, development of new small molecule drug leader compounds and re-profiling of existing drugs to reduce Covid-19 and its complications. ISSP UL in collaboration with the BMC developed lung-on-chip device, which allowed to study SARS-CoV-2 infection processes. The device was fabricated from PDMS and protocols were developed to fabricate the devices from alternative materials.
