All means are good to protect yourself from Covid-19. The health authorities encourage us daily to respect social distancing measures, to apply barrier gestures and to wear a mask.
For its part, the scientific community continues to look for means more effective that could help us better deal with this virus. Currently, researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, are working on masks which are said to have the capacity to destroy pathogens.
Photo by Juraj Varga. Credits Pixabay
According to these scientists, the technology applied to these masks could even be used in ventilation and air conditioning systems.
Nanowire masks
Some of the masks that circulate actusually on the market do not offer optimal protection to wearers. To remedy this, EPFL researchers decided to develop nanowire masks with titanium dioxide. They had the idea to take advantage of the photocatalytic properties of this material to protect mask wearers.
Indeed, these nanowires have the ability to transform moisture into agents oxidants, when in contact with ultraviolet rays. As Lászlό Forrό, head of EPGL's complex materials physics laboratory explains, these oxidizing agents then take charge of destroying the pathogenic particles circulating in the ambient air.
Large-scale production possible
Lászlό Forrό indicated that these masks have already proven their effectiveness.
According to the use of these masks is safer for the wearer, but also for those around him. Instead of staying on the surface ofused masks, pathogens are immediately destroyed. Those who end up in the trash are therefore no longer a danger to others.
The researchers behind this study said that it would be easy to make these masks in large scale. As proof, the EPFL laboratory alone can produce nearly 200 m² of nanowire filter paper per week.
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