Many people around the world are wearing face masks to guard themselves against coronavirus. While there’s some controversy about whether masks work or not, the idea is they keep germs away from your nose and mouth. They are also great to prevent viruses from a sick person from contaminating things around them. The problem is, when not worn correctly, the germs get to all the wrong places anyway. Now, a Canadian scientist has solved this issue by creating a coating for masks that kills viruses within minutes.
The man behind the idea is assistant Professor Hyo-Jick Choi, a biomedical engineer based out of the University of Alberta. He realized that there are two main problems with using surgical masks for protection against COVID-19. One: Most masks can only capture large airborne virus-laden water droplets. Two: The mask may catch the virus and stop it from entering your nose or mouth, but it doesn’t kill the virus. Meaning, when the wearer removes the mask, the virus is transferred onto their fingers and then other commonly-touched surfaces.
So, Choi’s team designed a virus-killing coating that can be applied to the exterior of any mask. The material is made up of mostly two salts: potassium chloride and sodium chloride. These salts dissolve when virus-laden water droplets of any size come into contact with them and crystalize as the water evaporates. When this happens, the sharp edges of the crystals puncture any viruses present, killing them.
Choi said:
We’ve tested our system on three different influenza viruses and have shown that the virus on the surface of a coated contaminated mask is inactive within five minutes and completely destroyed within 30 minutes. I believe that technology should be equally effective against coronavirus.
The university is working with Choi now to find corporate partners that can commercialize the coating. They hope to have a product on the market within a year to a year and a half. Indeed, that feels like a long time to wait, particularly since we need such a coating on masks now to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. But the invention works for any virus so it will always be useful. For now, Choi stresses that people wearing masks should not touch the filtration material ever, never store the mask in exposed areas, dispose of it immediately after use, and always wash their hands before and after handling.
