Battle of the hand sanitisers

By Hayley Bennett2021-02-02T10:25:00

An illustration showing giant bottles of hand sanitizer chasing virus aliens in a city landscape

Source: © Dan Bright

Are quaternary ammonium compounds just as good at killing Covid-19 as alcohols?

Research has shown that chemicals like benzalkonium chlorides, known as ‘quats’ – quaternary ammonium compounds, can kill Covid-19 just as quickly as alcohol can. This article looks at the chemistry behind it and asks whether we can welcome another contender for king of the sanitiser into our midst.

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