{
  "abstract": "The airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has renewed interest in engineering controls for indoor air; photocatalytic oxidation over titanium dioxide (TiO2) under ultraviolet (UV) light is an attractive, reagent-free basis for such controls. Rational development requires a biosafe, quantifiable challenge organism usable at biosafety level 1 (BSL-1). We validated the thermophilic bacteriophage TP-84 (host Geobacillus stearothermophilus) as a surrogate for airborne viruses, characterising its stability, aerosolisation, recovery from photocatalytic supports and inactivation on TiO2 surfaces under UVA, UVC and UVA + UVC by a reference-normalised mass balance. TP-84 was stable in a simulated saliva matrix, survived ultrasonic nebulisation, and was recovered from porous ceramic supports at 66.0–91.7%. Five minutes of UV on TiO2 surfaces—UVC (254 nm, 540 mJ cm−2) or combined UVA + UVC (2040 mJ cm−2)—inactivated 87.4–89.4% and 61.6–76.5% of phage, respectively; bulk liquid was strongly protective (94.6–97.5% recovery), whereas desiccation reduced recovery to 4.3–16%. Flow-through aerosol assays provided a device test bed. Because TP-84 is a hardy, non-enveloped dsDNA virus, these values are conservative lower bounds that must not be equated with SARS-CoV-2 efficacy; validation with an enveloped surrogate and authentic virus is the next step.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland",
    "Department of Biomedical Chemistry, Faculty of Physical Education, Gdańsk University of Physical Education and Sport, Górskiego 1, 80-336 Gdańsk, Poland",
    "Department of Environmental Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ireneusz Sobolewski",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9510-2557"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Beata Łubkowska",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4088-3541"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Paweł Mazierski",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8674-0151"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Anna Gołąbiewska"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Adriana Zaleska-Medyńska",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3817-296X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Piotr M. Skowron",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1345-3271"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7pxbb4yby6dgf.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/ijms27209271",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13705311/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "7pxbb4yby6dgf",
  "issns": [
    "1422-0067"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/20/9271",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2740|Infection Control and Ventilation"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222953667",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13705311/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13705311",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "MDPI AG",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7pxbb4yby6dgf.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:57Z",
      "native_id": "10.3390/ijms27209271",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/20/9271"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:40Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13705311",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13705311"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2740|Infection Control and Ventilation",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A Thermophilic Bacteriophage TP-84 Surrogate System for Validating Photocatalytic and Ultraviolet Inactivation of Airborne Viruses, Including SARS-CoV-2",
  "title_text": "A Thermophilic Bacteriophage TP-84 Surrogate System for Validating Photocatalytic and Ultraviolet Inactivation of Airborne Viruses, Including SARS-CoV-2",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:21:40Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7pxbb4yby6dgf",
  "venue": "International Journal of Molecular Sciences",
  "versions": []
}