Development of COVID‑19 antiviral coatings for N95 respirators

Musselman, Kevin | $50,000

Ontario University of Waterloo 2020 NSERC Alliance COVID-19 Grant


During the outbreak of COVID-19, personal protective equipment (PPE) has played a critical role as the

first line of defense between the virus and people, particularly healthcare workers. This equipment,

however, is not typically treated to have antiviral properties. Since the virus is viable in aerosols and on

surfaces for days, contaminated PPE has become another potential source of virus infection, posing a

risk to healthcare workers and others handling the waste. In this project, antiviral coatings that are effective for COVID‑19 will be developed. This will include studies on virus viability and altered protein synthesis, after exposure to different coating materials. In collaboration with Eclipse Automation, manufacturing processes will be developed to deposit these antiviral coatings on the fabrics that are employed as the outer layer on N95 respirators. The developed technology will be transferred to industry to provide enhanced PPE for Canadians.

Avec un financement du Gouvernement du Canada

Please complete this short survey to help us understand our impact. Thank you!

Donnez votre avis