Biomass-driven nanocomposite fabric materials with hydrophilic charge properties development in vacuum-assisted filtration method (COVID-19)

由严重呼吸道综合征冠状病毒（SARS-CoV-2）感染引起的全球大流行目前正在世界各地肆虐。加拿大和几乎所有其他国家的经济都陷入了前所未有的停滞，因为该国正在努力避免COVID-19病毒的高度传染性和不可预测性。世界卫生组织（世卫组织）关于预防和控制COVID-19爆发的指导方针建议使用适当的个人防护设备（PPE），这是执业医护人员和疑似SARS-CoV-2感染患者防止这些病毒直接传播的第一道防线。然而，持续的危机暴露了质量低劣的个人防护设备的内在危险，无论是一线医疗、长期护理（LTC）还是个人支持工作者（PSW），他们冒着生命危险保持基本和非基本服务的运行。 博士Gobinda Saha（PI）和他在UNB纳米复合材料和力学实验室的团队，Muhammad Afzal博士（Co-PI）在UNB生物能源和生物产品实验室，与Thermopak Ltd.和NB-BioMatrix合作，旨在设计和制造纳米复合织物片材，作为构建个人防护卫生装置的必要条件（外科和非外科口罩和面部防护罩），并在医疗控制环境中进行测试。我们的目标是通过开发创新的“加拿大制造”医用级口罩和个人防护装备，应对快速发展的人类COVID-19相关卫生紧急情况。所提出的解决方案将利用纳米材料化学来制造具有高机械强度的微米尺寸的编织纤维片，其重量轻、耐用、具有所需的孔隙率以有效地过滤> 99.5%的液滴、微生物、颗粒，并且可以在接触时抑制人冠状病毒和其他微生物。

A global pandemic caused by the severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection is currently wreaking havoc around the world. Canada, and virtually every other nation, has put its economy in an unprecedented halt as the country fights to stave off the highly contagious and unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 virus. The World Health Organization's (WHO) guidelines concerning prevention and control of the COVID-19 outbreak recommend use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), which is the first line of defense against direct transmission of these viruses for practising healthcare workers and patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the ongoing crisis has exposed the inherent danger of sub-quality PPE, be it for frontline medical, long-term care (LTC), or personal support workers (PSWs) who risk their lives to keep both essential and non-essential services running. Dr. Gobinda Saha (PI) and his team in UNB's Nanocomposites and Mechanics Laboratory, Dr. Muhammad Afzal (Co-PI) in UNB's Bioenergy and Bioproducts Laboratory, in partnership with Thermopak Ltd. and NB-BioMatrix, aim to design and manufacture nanocomposite fabric sheet materials as a requisite to build personal protective hygiene devices (surgical and non-surgical masks and face protective shields) and testing in a medically controlled environment. The goal is to address the quickly evolving human COVID-19 related health emergency by developing innovative, "Made in Canada" medical grade masks and PPE. The proposed solution will utilize nanomaterial chemistry to fabricate micron sized woven fiber sheets with high mechanical strength, that are lightweight, durable, have the desired porosity to efficiently filter >99.5% liquid droplets, microorganisms, particulates, and can inactivate human coronaviruses and other microorganisms upon contact.