The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a rapid response research (RAPID) grant to a Northwestern University researcher to develop a new self-sanitizing medical face mask.
The funding initiative stems from the NSF calling for immediate proposals addressing the spread of COVID-19.
“Spread of infectious respiratory diseases, such as COVID-19, typically starts when an infected person releases virus-laden respiratory droplets through coughing or sneezing,” Northwestern’s Jiaxing Huang, who leads the research, said. “To further slow and even prevent the virus from spreading, we need to greatly reduce the number and activity of the viruses in those just released respiratory droplets.”
Researchers indicated the work involves investigating anti-viral chemicals that can be safely built into masks to self-sanitize the passing respiratory droplets, noting members of Huang’s laboratory have been working nonstop for the past week to develop new solutions.
“More researchers, and especially students in the physical sciences and engineering, can proactively study the problems and think of new ways to mitigate the transmission and spread of viruses,” Jiaxing Huang said. “Even those who need to stay home for now can still continue to brainstorm.”
Researchers said current masks provide a physical barrier, reducing the number of escaped respiratory droplets that would become a new source of infection after entering the atmosphere or landing on objects and surfaces.
The new design would provide a drop-in solution that works generically with current, varied types of masks to offer an additional function of deactivating viruses.