A freind sent this my way  tell me what you think

https://aftau.org/news_item/led-lights-found-to-kill-coronavirus-global-first-in-fight-against-covid-19/

Interesting!  I actually have a portable UV box to sanitize my items (keys, wallet, and so forth) upon returning from work, which uses UVC LEDs as well.  Upon purchasing it was more or less known it would work against COVID, but cool to see an actual article on it!

It is quite obvious and long well known fact that UV, mainly the -C (and shorter) kills everything it can land on and that virures in general are very fragile in that matter.

The point is more on how to kill the viruses but not the other living ocupants.
Yes, the dead skin layer is protecting us to some extend, but not e.g. the eyes. So it can not be on when people or pets are in.

And it is quite long time a common knowledge how to make LEDs radiating in that UV. But because being a niche, they are still too expensive.

It is quite expected the disease will form a market for germicidal lanterns. But there are two things: First how to make these devices safe to use by ordinary people (who need warning labels to tell them to not touch the red hot stove to not get fingers burned) and how long this market will last.
The second becomes quite questionable, once the vaccines become widely applied (and routinely renewed), it is expected the disease will get suppressed and the market will be gone before anything reasonable could be developed.

@Medved: Although UVC LEDs are still a niche, expensive and pretty much not used UVC light in general is very widespread among the industry, and even if a vaccine comes they won't stop to be used e.g. water cleaning, sterilization chambers, and industry applications or markrt products that the regular people is not exposed to the UVC.

I think UVC LEDs won't arise, because mercury tubes demonstrated to work perfectly for that purpose, because it is dirt cheap, very efficient and somehow safer. UVC LEDs doesn't emmitt visible light to notice the people around. You can connect visible light LEDs in series or parallel or put a phosphor layer but it won't guarantee that it is on. The visible light LEDs might be faulty and the phosphor layer will degrade, in the other hand the mercury arc will always emmitt visible light.

Have you wondered why UVC lights are not available at retail supermarkets? Because there will be a lot of people demanding them for eye and skin burns (the people who need a lavel to not put their hands in the hot stove), and the regular consumer will think "that's just a cool looking cyan light" and "I ain't read the manual, I'm not that fool" and will just light the thing up without any protection and they will realize when it is too late. Also, most UVC lights sold on Ebay or aliexpress doesn't come with any warning label, otherwise they won't sell if the people see it is a dangerous product.

Sorry, gentlemen. The vast majority of UVC LEDs are fake. You've been scammed.

The only commercially viable light-based disinfectant tech is mercury vapor. Either cold cathode or hot cathode.

@Xytrell: I know it right, the real UVC LEDs are made of brass and quartz, and are quite expensive and so, unreliable. Any other thing you see on Ebay with a cyan or purple looking light is fake, they are just cheap colored LEDs that virtually do nothing aside the placebo effect. And because of all the ignorance the virus is still among us. For now, the only reliable source of UV light is the mercury discharge.

Sorry, gentlemen. The vast majority of UVC LEDs are fake. You've been scammed.

The only commercially viable light-based disinfectant tech is mercury vapor. Either cold cathode or hot cathode.

We weren't taken in for a minute. 

UV-C destroys DNA, which is why you shouldn't look at or remain in the vicinity of germicidal lamps. MV based ones, that is.
NO cheap Chinese L*D is going to do anything except look purple. The companies who make and sell this rubbish should be prosecuted   

UV-C destroys DNA, which is why you shouldn't look at or remain in the vicinity of germicidal lamps. MV based ones, that is.
NO cheap Chinese L*D is going to do anything except look purple. The companies who make and sell this rubbish should be prosecuted   

I know, but my freind online thinks we are exaggerating and that we all just mindlessly hate leds.

While true UVC LEDs should be effective they tended to be expensive to the point where the traditional mercury vapour based tech was cheaper.

That being said, I'm skeptical with most cheap solutions you see on sites like Amazon that use LEDs. Especially the ones that look like they just use blue LEDs. 

While true UVC LEDs should be effective they tended to be expensive to the point where the traditional mercury vapour based tech was cheaper.

That being said, I'm skeptical with most cheap solutions you see on sites like Amazon that use LEDs. Especially the ones that look like they just use blue LEDs.

There are very few industrial applications that rely on the single wavelength peak, which benefit from it even when paying 1k$ per 1W UV output power with lifetime few 100's hours and efficiency in the 1% ballpark. Such application are deep submicron resolution IC litography processes or similar. They are happy with the super expensive brass plus quartz style LEDs, where their fabrication has very low yield (the situation of these UVC or VUV LED technologies today).
But this is not that much different from the blue LEDs 30 years ago. The main difference is, the blue LEDs could be turned to white by a phosphor and as white ones, which have market of TW of installed power around the world. So that (potential at that time) market justified the heavy investment into the scientific research and then engineering development to have the mass production of few cents per W with 20+khour lifetime and 40% energy efficiency LEDs we have today. Without these investments, even the blue LEDs would still be just a 1k$/W 100hour life 1% efficient special application only gadgets.
So if the market for mass produced UVC emerges, there will be the research and development investment and that will turn them into mass produced thing that could well be used even in germicidal applications. But even with that all in favor, it will take quite a few years before any commercial product will benefit from them.
So at least for the next decade, the discharges will be the choice for the disinfection for sure. I think what will happen first is some sensing and automation, which prevents human exposure to the UV even when that "human" tries, so make the UV sterilization marketable as a consumer product. This is not that much dependent on the source type, such safety feature would be required either way.

I know, but my freind online thinks we are exaggerating and that we all just mindlessly hate leds.

I do mindlessly hate L*D's, but these cheap ones are still rubbish 

Nothing beats germicidal mercury lamps which emits at various UV-C lines compared to UV-C LEDs which are monochromatic.

We weren't taken in for a minute.

And who does this 'we' encompass? Because it clearly excludes the first two posters in the thread.

And who does this 'we' encompass? Because it clearly excludes the first two posters in the thread.

Us as in us two here. The OP told me in a PM on another matter that he was well aware and had posted the topic to gauge opinion.