– Korea’s leading chemical companies, such as Lotte Chemical and Kolon Group, are striving to develop materials with virus removal characteristics. With the spread of Corona 19 around the world, interest in antiviral increased, and it was preoccupied with the market. As antiviral materials are extremely rare worldwide, competition among companies to target related markets is expected to be fierce.
On the 15th, Kolon Glotech, a material subsidiary of Kolon Group, announced that it will target the market with’Q-PLUS’, a textile material with antiviral function. Fibers with antiviral properties have been developed in the industry, but there are very few cases of actual products, so it is evaluated that Kolon Group has laid a foothold to advance in the related market.
Q Plus, developed by Kolon Glotech, is a functional material that applies copper sulfide (CuS) to fibers such as nylon and polyester. Q Plus is excellent at blocking various viruses such as influenza and avian influenza by blocking and killing various bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Copper ions penetrate inside the virus and cause disturbances in the genetic material.
Kolon Glotech announced that it has demonstrated antiviral properties against various viruses in a test conducted with Yonsei University Medical School last month. In the test, influenza and avian influenza viruses were added to the copper-containing Qplus-applied product, and 99.99% of them died within 5 minutes. In addition, Kolon Glotech said that it is in progress by requesting Qplus’ anti-corona19 viral test to Microchem Lab, an approved testing agency of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Q Plus is excellent in terms of durability and antibacterial function. Kolon Glotech explained that Q Plus has semi-permanent durability that maintains more than 99.9% antibacterial degree even after washing 50 times, and has secured various performances that require antibacterial materials, such as no harm to humans and no skin irritation. Since 2015, Kolon Glotech has been devoted to research and development to add antiviral functions to existing antibacterial materials. After five years of hard work, it succeeded in developing a new method, and recently launched Qplus with antiviral functions.
Q Plus is currently applied to health masks, and air purifier products on the market in Korea use Q Plus Hepa Filter, which is recognized in related industries. In the future, Kolon Glotech plans to accelerate the expansion of its product line by applying Q Plus to automobile interior products produced by Kolon Glotech, such as car seats and artificial leather. Kim Young-beom, CEO of Kolon Glotech, said, “We will expand various fields of application such as medical, hygiene, and automotive materials.”
Lotte Chemical has also started developing antiviral plastic materials with Korea University Medical Center since last month. Through joint research conducted until next year, Lotte Chemical plans to preemptively develop new plastic materials with antiviral properties. An industry insider predicted that “BASF and other global chemical companies are actively developing antiviral materials. As the market interest is increasing, competition over the antiviral materials market will be fierce in the future.”
[원호섭 기자 / 최근도 기자]
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
–
–
