Nora Savage
$150,000
Pierre Herckes
Arizona State University
Arizona
Engineering (ENG)
Health care providers rely upon facial masks as a key element in protection against aerosol transmitted diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). There is currently a severe shortage of respiratory masks leading to unprecedented changes in healthcare protocols, to not only not change masks between patients but reuse masks over several hours or days, against common medical practice and creating serious risks of cross-contamination of patients and infection of personnel. Fast and effective sanitizing methods are needed to allow for the safe reuse of masks to protect patients and health care workers alike. The novel protocols need to assure rapid destruction of the virus while not compromising the protection efficacy. This project aims at designing a novel germicidal ultraviolet light irradiation system using light emitting diodes coated with nanoparticles to maximize the irradiation efficiency. Nanoparticles enhanced irradiation sources will be optimized to assure a more equal distribution of the germicidal light dose across curved surfaces (such as molded masks), increasing the process speed, while decreasing the potential damage by excess radiation. Potential radiation damage to mask material will be investigated while mask performance will be carefully monitored. The project will yield a novel nanotechnology enhanced ultraviolet disinfection system, while also providing critically needed scientific data on ultraviolet damage potential of masks in general and impacts of irradiation on protection efficacy. The project will make immediate broader impacts as it partners with health care practitioners. The funding will support the training of minority, undergraduate and graduate students in applied nanotechnology.The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has led to a severe shortage in respiratory protective equipment for health care providers. The quest for processes to rapidly sanitize facial masks for safe reuse revealed some scientific knowledge gaps and technological challenges, even for common processes such as Ultraviolet Light irradiation. Technologically, delivering uniform light dosages to curved surfaces such as masks, to minimize total radiation dose and potential material damage while saving time and energy remains a challenge. This project will use nano-enabled, durable ultraviolet -light emitting diodes connected to optical fibers to optimize delivery of ultraviolet doses to non-flat surfaces. Scientifically, little information exists on ultraviolet damage to facial masks and the impact on the capture efficiency of the masks. This project will characterize chemically the nature of the ultraviolet radiation to the mask materials while also investigating potential changes to particle collection efficiency of the material. The capture efficiency and hence protection efficacy is a nanoparticle issue (virions are ~125 nm), beyond simple physical size as particles will also be trapped by electrostatic interactions, particularly important at nanoscale. The latter is really poorly understood in the context of facial masks and impact of humidity, particle size and potential radiation induced material surface changes. This project will contribute to ultraviolet radiation technology development, nanoscale insights on nanoparticle trapping and particle filter interactions. The project will support minority, undergraduate and student graduate training and have immediate impacts by direct collaboration with health care practitioners.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.