The consortium “Advanced UV for Life” (www.advanced-uc.de), funded by the BMBF under the programme “Twenty20 – Partnership for Innovation”, is an alliance of companies and research institutions that has been dedicated to the development and application of UV LEDs since 2014. The research work within the consortium has contributed to making UV LEDs increasingly powerful and affordable. As a result, they are now competitive with conventional mercury lamps in certain areas. As a partner in the consortium “Advanced UV for Life”, CiS Forschungsinstitut für Mikrosensorik GmbH is responsible for the development of assembly processes for UV-LEDs and, together with researchers from FBH Berlin and TU Berlin, is forming the basis for the realisation of solutions for disinfection with UV-LEDs.
In the field of medical applications, the Fraunhofer IOSB-AST, together with partners from the “Advanced UV for Life” consortium, has in recent years developed various approaches for disinfection solutions with UV LEDs. For example, the Fraunhofer IOSB-AST, in cooperation with the University Hospital of Jena, has realised a device with UVC LEDs for the disinfection of smartphones and tablets, which has now become an indispensable part of today’s digital clinical routine. In contrast to mobile phone disinfection devices available on the market, the system safely disinfects the entire surface.
Another example is the development of a hygiene siphon by PURION GmbH and GMBU e.V. Jena, both also partners in the consortium “Advanced UV for Life”, supported by Fraunhofer IOSB-AST. Here, the water-air interface in the siphon is irradiated with intense blue light (420 nm) from LEDs. This effectively inactivates micro-organisms that may be released from the siphon into the ambient air via aerosols.
The research results of the “Advanced UV for Life” consortium, which include in particular the developments of the CiS Research Institute, could be used by the respective partners to realise disinfection solutions with light from UVC and blue LEDs.
