The broader impact/commercial potential of the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) project is the reduction of viral transmission of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and other viral pathogens. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has killed hundreds of thousands with widespread disruption to economic and healthcare systems. Face masks have been shown to play a critical role in reducing coronavirus transmission. However, cloth masks do a poor job protecting the wearer from exposure and effective alternatives (i.e., N95 respirators) are in short supply for front-line workers and the public, creating an urgent need for a low-cost, safe, effective, and simple coating technology that reduces virus transmission. This project will develop a coating that can be applied directly to a face mask or mask insert. Beyond COVID-19, future coating compositions could be tuned to address new viral outbreaks. Furthermore, respiratory protection via coatings or filter inserts are likely to be in high demand given the increased awareness from the current crisis. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop molecular coatings with amphoteric properties to enhance virus adsorption from water-based aerosols. Ion exchange (IEX) materials are commonly used in aqueous environments as effective virus adsorbents because of pH tunable electrostatic affinity. However, these design principles have not been translated to a face mask coating because commercially available IEX materials: 1) utilize hazardous chemicals that require complex and centralized production, 2) lack tunability for adsorption in a fixed pH environment (i.e., human breath), and 3) typically absorb water which is detrimental to the respiratory protection of a mask. This project will overcome these limitations through the design of a heterogeneous surface coating. The coating composition will be optimized to promote electrostatic virus adsorption under breathing conditions (i.e., pH ~ 7.7) while simultaneously enhancing hydrophobicity to minimize aerosol penetration through a porous mask. The key technical hurdles addressed by the proposed research are: 1) formation of a single phase coating solution, 2) coating application and optimization of amphoteric properties for selective adsorption, 3) achieving an increase viral protection factor of 2× or higher, and 4) assessing cradle-to-grave safety.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
