Universal and reusable virus deactivation system for respiratory protection

Abstract

Aerosolized pathogens are a leading cause of respiratory infection and transmission. Currently used protective measures pose potential risk of primary/secondary infection and transmission. Here, we report the development of a universal, reusable virus deactivation system by functionalization of the main fibrous filtration unit of surgical mask with sodium chloride salt. The salt coating on the fiber surface dissolves upon exposure to virus aerosols and recrystallizes during drying, destroying the pathogens. When tested with tightly sealed sides, salt-coated filters showed remarkably higher filtration efficiency than conventional mask filtration layer, and 100% survival rate was observed in mice infected with virus penetrated through salt-coated filters. Viruses captured on salt-coated filters exhibited rapid infectivity loss compared to gradual decrease on bare filters. Salt-coated filters proved highly effective in deactivating influenza viruses regardless of subtypes and following storage in harsh environmental conditions. Our results can be applied in obtaining a broad-spectrum, airborne pathogen prevention device in preparation for epidemic and pandemic of respiratory diseases.

Soft matter science and the COVID-19 pandemic

“…‡ ‡ Related to this, Quan et al has reported that coating the fibres of a mask with salt can inactivate trapped viruses; they attribute this to the effect of osmotic up shock as aerosol droplets come into contact with and dissolve the deposited salt. 126 On the other hand, the possible role of osmotic down shock also deserves investigation. Enveloped viruses are found to be inactivated significantly faster in water than non-enveloped human enteric viruses.…”

Antimicrobial Air Filters Using Natural Sea Salt Particles for Deactivating Airborne Bacterial Particles

“…Additionally, the dryness of the filter surface due to the NSS particles may have affected bacterial survival. Quan et al (2017) demonstrated that salt-coated filters are effective in deactivating virus bioaerosols [45]. The biggest difference between the aforementioned research and the current study is the fabrication process of antimicrobial filters.…”

Potential Therapeutic Options for COVID-19: Current Status, Challenges, and Future Perspectives

“…Sodium chloride (NaCl) also called 'table salt' as coating material on the fiber surface of the filtration unit of surgical mask effectively deactivated a number influenza virus species, suggesting a new strategy in the protective measures to avoid primary/secondary infection and transmission of many viruses, including SARS-CoV-19 (Quan et al, 2017). On the other hand, the natural adsorbents, including clay, charcoal, and clay minerals showed 99.99% adsorption of CoVs (Robson, 2020).…”