COVID-19 is a global problem. Unfortunately, it hit China first, the center of the global chemical industry. This not only disrupted production of hand sanitizer ingredients, but also resulted in a great increase in consumption of Chinese (and thus global) stockpiles. Consequently, by the time the crisis hit Europe and North America, the key ingredients required for most gel formulations, poly(acrylic acid) and its derivatives, are in very short supply. Alternative formulations are desperately needed. The goal of the project is to provide a more flexible hand sanitizer that works with ingredients that are obtainable. The project has a short-term impact with regards to getting a gel formulation out fast to our production partners. This will be beneficial to the health and well-being of essential workers. It has longer term impact in helping develop a new antimicrobial formulation and coating that could be stored indefinitely and be employed to reduce microbial load.