Scientists in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a portable, self-powered ultraviolet-C device called the Tribo-sanitizer that can inactivate two of the bacteria responsible for many foodborne illnesses and deaths.

The Tribo-sanitizer’s UVC lamp is powered using the triboelectric effect – electricity that is generated when two dissimilar materials come into contact. In tests, the Tribo-sanitizer successfully inactivated two potentially deadly foodborne bacteria, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes, mainly by damaging their DNA, according to findings published in the journal Nano Energy.

Read more from the Illinois News Bureau.