It’s A Race To Create A High Tech Mask To Fight Coronavirus

With global shortages of single-use surgical face masks and N95 respiratory masks reserved only for medical professionals, scientists are now looking into copper, grapheme and self-sanitizing fabrics to create reusable, recyclable and antimicrobial masks for everyone.

Photo Credit: ABC

Scientists are racing to create a high- tech face mask to rip apart coronavirus, a mask that is antimicrobial, antiviral, reusable and recyclable, using copper-infused fabric, grapheme and chemicals found in everyday cleaning supplies.

With medical-grade masks in short supply and those resorting to making DIY fabric masks using repurposed materials such as old T-shirts and bandanas, effective and reuseable facemasks have become an essential item during this pandemic. It is more important than ever to stop the spread.

Whether you are panic buying cotton masks or making your own. Studies show that these masks can only act as an effective barrier to trap your coughs and sneezes to protect others. But it doesn’t actually protect you from getting infected as these single- use masks are designed to protect wearers from larger particles prove to not be as effective in filtering out the smaller virus particles that get you sick, and the moisture from the wearer’s respiratory droplets dampens the mask when you breathe into the masks, and it loses its effectiveness

As one of the ways Covid-19 is spread is through airborne transmission, it has become a social norm to be covering your nose and mouth in public. While on the market, medical grade masks such as N95 worn by medical professionals provide the best protection, they are only reserved for frontline health care workers. These respiratory masks forms a tight seal, with bendable metal edges to conform over the nose and mouth to filter all air coming in.

Researchers and manufacturers began to look into creating masks similar to N95, but reuseable, water and microbial resistant. These new high tech facemasks have copper incorporated to deactivate the COVID-19 virus, with a fine particle filtration system made with copper to deactivate viruses, and a filtration disc to filter particle size and graphene to regulate air intake

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