Copper embedded fabrics and facemasks for rapid, irreversible destruction of Covid-19

在公共和卫生保健机构预防病毒和细菌感染仍然是2019冠状病毒病大流行期间的一项重大挑战。该病毒在全球所有受影响国家造成了多重卫生和社会经济挑战，后果不明。开发有效的抗病毒药物和疫苗来应对COVID-19的感染和传播，最好的估计是几个月后。COVID-19的人际传播主要是通过鼻黏膜的气溶胶。防护呼吸口罩用于保护卫生保健提供者和患者免受含有病毒或其他传染性病原体的飞沫/气溶胶的伤害。几个世纪以来，铜、银和锌一直被认为对多种病毒病原体具有强效的生物杀灭性能。我们建议利用铜的有效抗病毒活性来增强口罩的保护功能，增加对病毒基因组的快速不可逆破坏。在我们过去的研究中，我们证明了在各种热敏性或聚合物表面（聚合物复合材料、木材、纸张）上热喷涂铜合金可以在几分钟内杀死细菌。

Prevention of viral and bacterial infections in public and health care settings remains a major challenge during the pandemic of COVID-19. The virus has globally created multiple health and socioeconomic challenges in all affected countries with unknown consequences. The development of effective anti-viral drugs and vaccines to cope with infection and spreading of COVID-19 are several months away at the best estimation. Human-to-human transmissions of COVID-19 are mainly by aerosol from the nasal mucosa. Protective respiratory facemasks are used for the protection of both health care providers and patients from the droplets/aerosols containing viruses or other infectious pathogens. Copper, silver, and zinc have been known for centuries to have potent biocidal properties for a wide range of viral pathogens. We are proposing to take advantage of the potent antiviral activity of copper to enhance the protective function of facemasks adding the rapid irreversible destruction of viral genomes. In our past studies, we demonstrated that thermal spraying of copper alloys onto various heat sensitive or polymeric surfaces (polymer composites, wood, paper) kills bacteria within a few minutes.