Researchers at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) have shown that silver nanoparticles deposited on fabric used to make masks can very effectively neutralize viruses and render them non-infectious. The lead author of the study, titled “Effectiveness of Silver Nanoparticles Deposited in Mask Materials for Neutralizing Viruses,” is a researcher at the Christopher Binns Regional Institute of Applied Sciences (IRICA) on the Ciudad Real campus. has been published by the scientific journal Nanomaterials, from the open access publisher MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute).
This work studied the neutralization of murine norovirus particles (closely related to the infectious human norovirus that causes gastroenteritis) and Usutu virus (transmitted by mosquitoes) with 4 nm diameter silver nanoparticles deposited on mask fabric. ) effectiveness.
The results obtained show that silver nanoparticles are deposited on the material of the mask through a cheap and effective aerosol method that allows pure uncoated nanoparticles to pass through the fabric and deposit them throughout the volume, neutralizing 95% to 98% of the viruses that get into the mask. Fabric, under optimal coating conditions. Additionally, studies have shown that the best performance is achieved with agglomerated nanoparticle films, with polycrystalline nanoparticles performing better than single crystals for murine norovirus. This adds to the extra protection provided by masks and is very important in an epidemic.
The research is scientifically important because in addition to showing the effectiveness of silver nanoparticles as antiviral agents, the work also provides important findings about how they neutralize viruses.
This work involves researchers Raúl López-Martín, Imanol Rodrigo, Carlos Ballesta, Armando Arias, Antonio Mas, Benito Santos Burgos, Peter S. Normile, José A. De Toro, and Chris Binns, as well as various UCLM centers, departments, or Units: IRICA, Department of Applied Physics, Biomedical Unit, Regional Center for Biomedical Research Molecular Medicine Unit, Higher Technical Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering and Biotechnology, and Faculty of Pharmacy. This work is the result of an interdisciplinary collaboration between physicists at the Ciudad Real campus and biologists in Albacete, and was supported by the “Funds to overcome Covid-19” program of the University of Cru España, the Superior Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) of funding and Santander.