Smart and Low-Cost Face-Shields Capable of Protection, Prevention and Detection for Essential Workers Fighting COVID-19 Pandemic

冠状病毒很容易通过感染者咳嗽、打喷嚏或呼气产生的飞沫在人与人之间传播。因此，开发安全、自我消毒的个人防护设备（PPE）以克服与当前使用的PPE（护目镜、手套和工作服）相关的问题是非常紧迫的。这项技术是基于提高防护罩表面温度来杀死病毒的想法。根据美国国立卫生研究院，CDC，UCLA和普林斯顿大学的研究，SARS（冠状病毒家族的一员）在各种表面上稳定数小时至数天。然而，已经证明，65 ℃以上的温度可以杀死或消灭大多数病毒。基于这一想法，我们建议用透明导电聚合物涂覆面部/防护罩的表面。一个重量轻、成本效益高的电路将透明导电聚合物转化为加热元件，将表面温度提高到杀死病毒的阈值以上。在升级版中，我们提供了一种智能技术，使用图案化的导电聚合物来检测病毒。值得注意的是，智能聚合物层可以容易地涂覆在制造设施中的防护罩的表面上，或者涂覆在已经安装/使用的防护罩上，例如由一线工人和基本服务工作人员使用的防护罩。这项技术在农村和偏远社区特别有益，因为这些地方不易获得个人防护设备的消毒设施。

The Coronavirus is easily transmissible from person to person through droplets conveyed from coughing, sneezing, or exhalation of an infected person. As such, it is highly urgent to develop safe, self-sanitized personal protective equipment (PPE) to surmount the problems associated with currently used PPE (googles, gawns and coveralls). The proposed technology is founded on the idea of increasing the surface temperature of protective shields to kill the virus. Based on performed research studies by the National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA, and Princeton University, SARS (a member of the Coronavirus family) is stable over various surfaces for several hours to days. However, it has been proven that the temperature above 65°C can kill or inactivate most of the viruses. Building on this idea, we propose coating the surface of face/protective shields with a transparent conducting polymer. A lightweight, cost-efficient electrical circuit converts the transparent conducting polymer to a heating element to increase the surface temperature above the threshold to kill the virus. At an upgraded version, we offer a smart technology to use a patterned conducting polymer to detect a virus. Of note, the smart polymer layer can be easily coated on the surface of protective shields in manufacturing facilities or on already installed/used protective shields, such as those used by frontline workers and essential service workers. This technology is particularly beneficial in rural and remote communities), where sterilisation facitilites for personal protective equipment is not easily accessible.