As of now there is no vaccine or drug available to combatnovel coronavirus. Mask, physical distancing and frequent handwashing are the only ways that can save lives. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also given recommendations on the kind of mask that is most suitable for protection against coronavirus. But wearing mask for a long time may cause suffocation and proper handling of mask istricky too. To address a few of such issues, Dr Marshal and his team at the School of Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-BHU), have developed an anti-microbialfive-layered face mask.
This face mask can annihilate pathogenic microorganisms that are stuck toits outer surface and therebylimit the spread of secondary infections. “The mask that is available inthe market currently acts as a filter to stop the entry of microbes to oral and nasal airways but does not have any effect onthe microbe stuck to the mask surface,” said Dr Marshal, Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, IIT (BHU), while speaking with India Science Wire.
Dr Marshal and anti-microbial multilayer face masks
This shortcoming in masks could be dangerous for medical andparamedical staff due to the presence of higher viral or bacterial load on their outer surface.
Dr Marshal’s team addresses this problem by stacking different layers of nanometal conjugated with protonated amine matrix.
The first layer of the mask can degrade any type of RNA, the next layer is anti-microbial, the third one is for air filtration, and the fourth and fifth layersare ‘comfortable layers’, which will remain close to the nose and mouth. “Copper and silver are de-transition elements and as per our knowledge they can degrade this virus and all the other members of SARS virus. We took a cocktail combination of copper, copper oxides, silver, and activated charged silver, which can help degrade RNA,” said Dr Marshal.
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For degradation testing, the researchers took the RNA of lung cells as novel coronavirus propagates rapidlyin the lungs. The RNA of other cells werealso extracted. “We have extracted both cancerous and non-cancerous cells too. We have checked the degradation of these molecules. We have tested this in solution base and in coating base methods. This testing showed that the RNA was getting degraded. After this, we have optimised it,” said the researcher. The mask has hydrophobic surface on the outer layer to deflect water droplets containing the viruses. Patent has been applied for the product. (India Science Wire)
