A group of Brazilian researchers developed a tissue capable of eliminating in just two minutes and with 99.9% efficiency the SARS-CoV-2 the virus that transmits the coronavirus COVID-19 scientific sources reported this Wednesday.
The polyester and cotton fabric, which was impregnated with a layer with two different silver microparticles, it was developed by researchers from the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Sao Paulo (USP), with the support of scientists from the Jaume I University (Spain).
In the project, Developed by a technological “startup” created by researchers from USP, researchers from the Functional Materials Development Center (CDMF) of the Fundación de Amparo a la Pesquisa del Estado de São Paulo (Fapesp), the body that financed pa, also participated. rte of the investigation and that disclosed the result this Wednesday.
The developed material will be used for the manufacture of masks and clothing for doctors and hospitals by Nanox, a recently created company that is dedicated to the development of antibacterial fabrics and fungicides.
We have already applied for the patent on the technology and are negotiating agreements with two Brazilian textile companies that will use it to manufacture protective masks and hospital clothes, “said Nanox director Luiz Gustavo Pagotto Simoes.
The tests carried out by those responsible for the innovation showed that tissues with silver microparticles were able to deactivate the virus in 99.9% of cases and after only two minutes of the organism contaminating the material. [19659006] The amount of virus that we use to contaminate the tissue is much higher than the one that is exposed to a protective mask and, even so, the material is and able to eliminate the virus with great efficiency, “said Lucio Freitas Junior, a researcher at USP and one of those responsible for the technology.
It was as if a bucket of particles had been thrown into a protective mask with the virus to leave it completely puddled, “added Freitas Junior.
Researchers are still conducting studies to determine the duration of the material's antiviral effect. In other materials developed by the company to fight bacteria and fungi, this property resists up to 30 washes.
Nanox is also conducting experiments to use the same technology in other materials, such as plastic films and flexible polymers.
The fabric was the first result of the application of silver microparticles to inactivate the new coronavirus, but, shortly, we may have several others, “said Simoes.
Brazil is already the second country with more deaths (45,241) and more cases of [19659014] COVID-19 (923,189) in the world despite the fact that, according to specialists, it has not yet reached the peak of the contagion curve.
The South American giant is also one of the countries in which most Health professionals have died or have had to isolate themselves due to the disease.
According to a report released on Friday by the Ministry of Health, in three months of a pandemic, 169 deaths of health professionals were registered d by COVID-19 throughout the country, mainly nurses (42) and doctors (18).