The spread of the new human coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has become a global health issue, causing millions of deaths due to complications associated with infections in the respiratory tract. 1 Person-to-person aerial transmission mechanism 2 places the use of masks among the three most important recommendations to contain the spread of COVID-19, a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, along with social distancing and sanitation of hands and objects. A recent study suggests that masks could reduce disease severity since they can reduce viral load. 3 Surgery and homemade masks are employed worldwide due to their higher availability and lower price. However, they are prone to rapid contamination due to breathing, manipulation, and interpersonal contact. Virucidal coatings could be applied to the mask surface, enhancing both protection and durability.Several studies have shown the antimicrobial activity of metallic elements, including those from the copper group. 4 Tremiliosi and coworkers reported silver-nanoparticle-based coatings' capability to inhibit the replication of SARS-CoV-2

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Silk fibroin (SF) and sodium alginate (SA) are natural polymers used to produce biomaterials. One of the strategies to improve the properties of these products is to prepare blends with them, which are partially miscible. Phase separation is observed, therefore, the thermodynamic analysis of this system is important to predict the final state and composition of this blends. This study explored blends with a different initial composition of SF, SA, and water (WA) at 25 • C and neutral pH. After phase separation, two phases were identified, one rich in SF and other rich in SA. The Flory-Huggins parameters of interaction of polymer-solvent and polymer-polymer were estimated using the extended equation and data of phase equilibrium, their values indicates the partial miscibility of the polymers.

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