Virucidal-coated surgical masks for preventive measures against Covid-19

Team L&M

To develop a protective coating that would greatly help in making medicated masks and medical wear (PPE) for fighting Covid-19, Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body under Department of Science and Technology, is supporting a research by a team of scientists from IIT Kanpur. The team would be developing the coating using a combination of common polymers containing anti-microbial properties and re-purposable anti-viral molecules and materials used would make it a cost effective solution.
Doctors and nurses, treating Covid-19 patients and hence susceptible to contamination due to their nature of work, will immensely benefit from this as it would add a layer of security for them while treating Covid-19 patients. Cost-effectiveness of the project would also help in mass-scale production.
The researchers from the Department of Chemistry in IIT Kanpur will be designing the virucidal coating using polymers which can resist attachment of bacteria and virus. An additional protection will be included to the polymer coating using molecules that can either destabilise and/or neutralise corona viruses and other viruses like influenza. The combination of anti-microbial polymer coating and functionalised drugs is also expected to provide a synergistic antiviral effect.