Two teenagers in Hong Kong have designed a special door handle that kills germ in order to ease people's minds when they are about to open the door when leaving the bathroom.
Sum Ming ("Simon") Wong, 17, and Kin Pong ("Michael") Li, 18, set out to create a coating that shields handles of the variety of bacteria often found on door handles in public rest areas. The goal is to help people avoid bacteria left behind by someone who was sick or didn't wash their hands.
The handle, presented at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair on May 12, comes in the form of a clear cylinder glass that is able to kill germs thanks to its coating of titanium dioxide, a bacteria-killing mineral used in paint, sunscreen and edible puddings. Wong and Li were able to add the coating by grinding the mineral into fine powder.
The two teens added to the handle's germ-zapping capabilities by lighting it from within, as titanium dioxide is at its strongest under ultraviolet (UV ) light, and door handles aren't normally exposed to UV light, according to Business Insider.
Each end of the handle fits into a bracket, one of which features a strong light-emitting diode (LED) that shines UV light through the entire length of the handle.
Power is provided for the handle thanks to a gearbox attached to the door that produces electrical power from the motion of the gears from opening and closing the door, Business Insider reported. This negates the need for an outside source to provide energy for the LED.
Another benefit of the new handle is that it's cheap to make, as Wong and Li estimate that it would only cost about $13 to make.
When exactly the disinfecting door handle system might be made available to bathrooms around the world has yet to be determined.
