posted on 2022-01-18, 14:34authored bySumin Han, Euna Oh, Erin Keltie, Jong Sung Kim, Hyo-Jick Choi
ConspectusThe development of a highly effective, low-cost
method for protection
against direct transmission through infectious media associated with
respiratory diseases has been considered to be a major challenge in
the management of the pandemic outbreak. Currently, filtration in
respirators and masks depends on the mesh size, raising safety concerns
about direct contact with the virus-laden layers of masks and respirators
during use and disposal. Also, conventional medical face masks and
respirators are recommended for single use only because long-term
use and reuse of masks increase the risk of contact transmission of
pathogens. As a result, mask reusability has gained much attention
in addressing the global problem of respirator and mask shortages
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, coinfection by influenza,
SARS-CoV-2, and bacteria has been an ongoing issue in the current
COVID-19 pandemic. In our response to the increasing demand for more
convenient forms of disease control, our group has investigated antimicrobial
technologies for respiratory devices against pandemic/epidemic diseases
and developed two universal antimicrobial coating technologies: (1)
nonwashable, reusable salt-coated fabrics and (2) washable, photopolymerizable
polymer-coated fabrics which efficiently inactivate infectious viruses
by contact with the filter. This is an opportune time to assess research
efforts toward antimicrobial face mask technology for its expected
impact on society and the economy.In this Account, we introduce
the importance of respiratory devices
for protection against respiratory diseases, decontamination methods,
technical challenges for reuse and extended use, antimicrobial substances
used in masks, antimicrobial functionalization strategies for mask
fibers, and the characterization of antimicrobial performance and
the limitations of the current procedure. Then, the major focus will
be directed to discussing the continued efforts of our group to develop
antimicrobial fabrics for face mask covers and face masks/respirators
based on salt-coated polypropylene (PP) fibers. In the following sections
of this Account, we will first discuss salt coating methods and pathogen
inactivation mechanisms in salt-coated filters. Then, an overview
of our recent progress in evaluating the antimicrobial performance
of salt-coated PP fabrics against five different bacterial species,
influenza viruses, and human coronaviruses will be presented. The
technical challenges in the implementation of the technology will
be highlighted in the last section. We believe that easy-to-implement
antimicrobial respiratory devices would guarantee improved protection
without decontamination processes and enable rapid responses to future
pandemic/epidemic outbreaks.