Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology最新文献

Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) radiation, spanning wavelengths between 200 nm and 280 nm, has proven germicidal qualities and medical, industrial, and environmental applications. The need for new disinfection technologies and the prospect of eliminating mercury-based radiation sources compels research on ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs). UV-LED technology could be used for customized and point-of-use products for disinfection and sterilization. We focused on the design and development of a surface disinfection device using UV-C LEDs, including potential user targets, important design parameters, and final validation methods. Optical and thermal simulations were used to illustrate the design process and associated challenges. A sample device prototype was developed, and microbial validation results are presented.

Microwave (MW) sensing offers noninvasive, real-time detection of the electromagnetic properties of biological materials via the highly concentrated electromagnetic fields, for which advantages include wide bandwidth, small size, and cost-effective fabrication. In this paper, we present the application of MW broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) coupled to a fabricated biological thin film for evaluating ultraviolet-C (UV-C) exposure effects. The BDS thin film technique could be deployed as a biological indicator for assessing whole-room UV-C surface disinfection. The disinfection process is monitored by BDS as changes in the electrical properties of surface-confined biological thin films photodegraded with UV-C radiation. Fetal bovine serum (FBS, a surrogate for protein) and bacteriophage lambda double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (dsDNA) were continuously monitored with BDS during UV-C radiation exposure. The electrical resistance of FBS films yielded promising yet imprecise readings, whereas the resistance of dsDNA films discernibly decreased with UV-C exposure. The observations are consistent with the expected photo-oxidation and photodecomposition of protein and DNA. While further research is needed to characterize these measurements, this study presents the first application of BDS to evaluate the electrical properties of solid-state biological thin films. This technique shows promise toward the development of a test method and a standard biological test to determine the efficacy of UV-C disinfection. Such a test with biological indicators could easily be applied to hospital rooms between patient occupancy for a multipoint evaluation to determine if a room meets a disinfection threshold set for new patients.

Patient well-being must be the driving force for determining standards for disinfection systems based on ultraviolet-C (UV-C) radiation. Reductions of inoculated bacteria on carriers is the optimal method of validating a UV-C-emitting system. We make specific, evidence-based recommendations regarding room description, organism selection, carrier material, quantity, orientations, and locations. Criteria for a satisfactory performance are discussed. Adoption of these requirements will ensure that devices intended for room disinfection provide the greatest chances for prevention of environmentally derived healthcare-associated infections.

This paper reports the powder X-ray diffraction patterns, argon isotherms at 87 K, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface areas, pore size distributions, pore volumes, skeletal densities, and thermal gravimetric analyses for three National Institute of Standards and Technology zeolitic reference materials, RM 8850 (zeolite Y), RM 8851 (zeolite A), and RM 8852 (ZSM-5).

We tested a simple digital impedance bridge using two nominally equal resistors to form a 1:1 ratio. We focused on resolution and stability of the detectors. Fluctuations of the source voltages were largely removed through postprocessing of the digitized data, and the measurement results were limited by the detector noise. This detector-limited operating condition was first demonstrated using three modified Keysight 3458A multimeters for measurements of the voltage ratios, achieving 0.01 μV/V type A uncertainty in less than 15 min at 1 kHz. In an effort to extend the applicable frequency range and develop a system with off-the-shelf components, we tested a system using three lock-in detectors for measuring small deviations from the perfect AC ratio of unity magnitude, achieving stabilities and resolutions of 0.1 μV/V in a few hours for each point from 1 kHz to 5 kHz.

Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a plethora of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) disinfection products have come to market, especially in emerging economies. UV-C-based disinfection products for mobile phones, food packaging, face masks and personal protective equipment (PPE), and other everyday objects are available in popular electronic-commerce platforms as consumer products. Product designers from multinational to startup companies began to design UV-C disinfection products but had no prior-art reference, user feedback, or validation of product efficacy, which are important stages in product design. A UV-C disinfection product cannot be assessed by most consumers for its viricidal efficacy. Many firms entered the domain of UV-C products and were unaware of the necessary validation requirements. Lack of availability and access to virology laboratories, due to lockdowns in countries, and lack of standards and certification for UV-C disinfection products limited product designers and firms in benchmarking their UV-C-based devices before market release. This work evaluates two UV-C disinfection devices for viricidal efficacy on PPE fabric and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-certified N95 respirators through controlled experiments using the H1N1 virus, which is enveloped and is transmitted via the respiratory route similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of COVID-19. The experiment also evaluated the effectiveness of chemical disinfectants along with and versus UV-C disinfection. Experiments for material selection, UV dose calculation, and UV endurance of PPE samples to be disinfected are also discussed. The outcome of this work establishes a systematic method to validate the efficacy of UV-C disinfection products. The design guidelines would benefit product designers in designing UV-C-based disinfection products.

We describe the results of a bilateral measurement comparison of optical fiber time delay between the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, USA) and Laboratorio de Metrología, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (LAMETRO-ICE, Costa Rica), which was conducted on a single-mode optical fiber reference spool at wavelengths of 1310 nm and 1550 nm. The measurement results showed the largest difference to be less than 0.93 ns, which is within the combined standard uncertainty (coverage factor k = 1) for the measurement systems at the two laboratories.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a growing social and economic problem in the United States. A HAI is an infection that develops as a result of medical care and is typically contracted in a hospital, outpatient surgery center, nursing home, rehabilitation facility, or while receiving wound care services. One new tool to fight the increasing threat of HAIs is photonic disinfection (optical light-based disinfection). Photonic disinfection of air, surfaces, and liquids has witnessed rapid adoption within many industries (e.g., drinking water purification, wastewater treatment, indoor air purification) over the past 20 years. More recently, light-based disinfection technologies have started to make their way into hospitals, clinics, and medical centers to aid in the disinfection of air and surfaces. Two photonic disinfection methods of interest are the use of ultraviolet-C wavelengths (200 nm to 280 nm) and blue wavelengths (400 nm to 420 nm). These wavelengths of interest have been proven to be effective disinfection tools and should be put into use to augment traditional infection-prevention techniques.