A researcher from the Northwestern University (Evanston, IL, USA) has developed a new self-sanitizing medical face mask that deactivates viruses upon contact and has also received funding for the project.

The project has received a rapid response research (RAPID) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which has called for immediate proposals that have potential to address the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The Northwestern project is the first physical sciences and engineering proposal to receive support under the NSF RAPID call.

“Spread of infectious respiratory diseases, such as COVID-19, typically starts when an infected person releases virus-laden respiratory droplets through coughing or sneezing,” said Northwestern’s Jiaxing Huang, who is leading the research. “To further slow and even prevent the virus from spreading, we need to greatly reduce the number and activity of the viruses in those just released respiratory droplets.”

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