A team of researchers from the University of Georgia has developed a new hand sanitizer that could offer longer protection and be gentler on the skin than traditional alcohol-based products.
The gel, called NORel, eliminates more than 97% of bacteria and fungi—including antibiotic-resistant strains—and keeps working for up to two hours after application.
Most alcohol-based sanitizers begin losing their germ-killing power within 30 to 60 minutes as the alcohol evaporates.
By contrast, NORel maintains its antimicrobial activity far longer, making it especially promising for high-risk settings like hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes.
The secret lies in its main active ingredient: nitric oxide, a molecule naturally found in the body that helps fight infections.
“Regular hand sanitizers with alcohol do a pretty good job initially,” explained lead author Elizabeth Brisbois, an associate professor in the UGA College of Engineering.
“But we showed that nitric oxide stays on the skin for longer, giving an extended protective effect. That was the most exciting result.”
The research, published in Biomaterials Science, shows NORel performs as well as commercial sanitizers containing 62% ethyl alcohol, but with added benefits.
The gel is fortified with antimicrobial and moisturizing ingredients, including ethanol, tea tree oil, and glycerin, which help kill microbes while keeping skin from drying out.
The idea to develop NORel grew out of the team’s earlier work with nitric oxide in medical applications such as wound healing and acne treatment.
They began exploring how the same infection-fighting properties could be adapted to hand sanitizers.
“We started thinking more about what exactly hand sanitizers are made of, and how we could incorporate nitric oxide into a typical formula,” Brisbois said.
In tests, NORel matched the performance of top alcohol-based products immediately after application and continued killing bacteria well after those products had lost their potency.
This could make it a valuable tool in reducing infections spread by hand contact, especially in healthcare environments where preventing contamination is critical for both staff and patients.
The next step for the researchers is to see how NORel performs against viruses such as COVID-19, as well as additional fungi. They also plan to work on improving the gel’s shelf life and stability at room temperature.
“In this initial project, we focused on formulating the sanitizer and testing it against bacteria commonly linked to medical device infections,” Brisbois said. “Future research will look at its effectiveness against other pathogens and make sure it can be stored and used easily outside of a lab.”
If successful, NORel could give people a longer-lasting, more skin-friendly option for hand hygiene—offering extra protection in the fight against infectious diseases.
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Source: KSR.
