COVID-19: Impregnation of BODIPY photosensitizers in disposable mask fabric to reduce COVID-19 viral loading

在当前的COVID-19大流行中，口罩对于确保一线医护人员免受病毒感染至关重要。公众戴口罩也越来越被接受为减缓冠状病毒传播的一种手段，这在保持安全社交距离具有挑战性的环境中尤为重要。该提案将开发一种方法，以降低通过接触被病毒污染的口罩感染COVID-19的风险。为了实现这一目标，可以在环境光下激活的染料将被纳入一次性口罩的外层。一旦染料被激活，沉积在口罩上的病毒就会通过光化学反应被灭活。这种病毒灭活方法将通过减少戴口罩时的感染风险来提高公众的保护水平。

In the current COVID-19 pandemic, masks are essential to ensure the safety of frontline healthcare workers from viral infections. Wearing face mask by the general public has also been increasingly accepted as a means to slow the spread of coronavirus, which will be particularly important in environments where maintaining safe social distance is challenging. This proposal will develop a means to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 by touching virus-contaminated masks. Toward this goal, dyes that can be activated in ambient light will be incorporated into the outer layer of disposable masks. Upon activation of the dyes, viruses that are deposited on the mask will be inactivated through photochemical reactions. This method of virus inactivation will improve the level of protection of the general public by reduction of the risk of infections while wearing face masks.