Virus Blocking Textile for SARS-CoV-2 Using Human Body Triboelectric Energy Harvesting

Efficient mitigation strategies to prevent spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are required before achieving population immunity through vaccines. Inspired by the negatively charged nature of SARS-CoV-2 aerosols, in the present study, we demonstrate a virus blocking textile (VBT) which repulse SARS-CoV-2 respiratory particles based on Coulomb force. Also, we demonstrate that human body triboelectric energy harvesting can be a promising powering source for continuous, highly efficient blocking of VBT. We found that contact and separation between human body and surround materials can generate a peak-to-peak current of 259.6 μA at most and it charges VBT and a 0.25-μF capacitor to 180 V in 134 seconds. Further, through acrylic chamber study which mimics respiratory contact using SARS-CoV-2 aerosols, we found that VBT repulses SARS-CoV-2 aerosols and virus copies in VBT is 13-times reduced. As a result, 99.95% of SARS-CoV-2 is blocked at the flow rate of 0.5 m/s. These findings provide the first technology that prevents spread of virus based on repulsive Coulomb force and triboelectric energy harvesting. Funding Information: This work was financially supported by the Nano Material Technology Development Program (2020M3H4A1A03084600), the Basic Science Research Program (2021R1A2C2010990) and the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program (2021M3A9I2080490) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by Ministry of Science and ICT. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.