新型冠狀病毒大流行導致醫用外科口罩的需求空前激增??谡挚梢蕴峁┮欢ūWo,防止病毒傳播,但在過濾空氣中的病原體時會受到污染,最后反而可能提高傳播疾病的風險。
研究人員正努力修復這一缺陷,希望能設計出功能更強大的口罩,使其可以殺死病毒和細菌,而非只是擋住它們。
“目前的口罩不能消滅病毒,所以建議一次性使用,但實際上不可能每隔幾個小時就更換一次口罩,”阿爾伯塔大學的化學與材料工程系助理教授崔孝鎮(音譯)說道,他一直在開發能為醫用外科口罩提供抗病毒涂層的產品以提高其安全性,秘訣就在于鹽。
“我們用鹽結晶處理口罩過濾層表面,不是公眾熟知的細鹽粉,”崔孝鎮表示。涂層的工作原理是,首先吸收空氣中通常攜帶病毒和其他病原體的水滴;水蒸發時,病毒會接觸到鹽結晶并被刺穿細胞膜從而達到殺滅效果。
崔孝鎮在2017年首次展示了這項技術,不過是在實驗室環境下,而且用的是單層口罩。標準外科口罩共有三層,內層用于過濾空氣,兩個夾層則用于防水和提升舒適性。
崔孝鎮表示,2017年剛開始跟制造商交談時,他們對提高口罩的安全性不感興趣,只想提高舒適性。崔孝鎮的最新研究兼顧兩者,可以讓口罩既透氣又能高效過濾,5分鐘內就能殺死病毒。
特別的鉆石
在香港,醫用外科口罩緊缺的形勢促使政府對當地生產進行補貼。香港科技園的Master Dynamic工程實驗室也在研究如何為醫用口罩提供抗病毒涂層,不過使用的是另一種材料:納米鉆石。
“我們可以在不同隔層上都應用納米鉆石,這樣一來就能全方位地殺死病毒,”Master Dynamics首席執行官湯姆·孔說道。根據孔教授的說法,納米鉆石可攜帶小電荷,與病毒接觸時電荷會使細胞膜變性從而達到滅殺效果。
Master Dynamics以前在實際應用中使用過納米鉆石,用途包括作為藥物輸送的結合劑等。巧合的是,崔孝鎮對鹽作為抗病毒制劑的興趣也是始于對改良藥物輸送系統的研究,當時他想用糖結晶作為結合劑研發可食用的疫苗。后來項目因糖結晶會破壞疫苗而失敗,但啟發了崔孝鎮用結晶體作為抗病毒涂層的想法。
崔孝鎮估計,用鹽做涂層后每個口罩的成本價將增加50美分。Master Dynamics的團隊尚未完成定價分析,但孔博士駁斥了鉆石價格高昂的觀點。
“人們一想到鉆石,通常會想到價格高昂的珠寶。但我們使用的是工業級納米鉆石,而不是珠寶級鉆石,因此要便宜得多,”孔博士說道。
工業級鉆石經常用于研磨和切割其他材料,大部分都在中國的實驗室里制造??撞┦勘硎?,經過拋光變得鋒銳,并切割成適合形狀的鉆石,才能成為Master Dynamics用作原材料的鉆石“芯片”。
孔博士認為,口罩其實可以重復使用,因為納米鉆石的電荷能持續存在幾個月,具體還需要測試。根據香港房地產開發商新世界發展公司公布的新聞稿,在首席執行官鄭志剛指示下,該公司已經向Master Dynamics的研究投資了120萬美元,初步結果預計將在未來四個月內公布。阿爾伯塔大學的崔孝鎮相對領先一步,但也可能需要12到18個月時間才能推出可行的產品。
應用障礙
然而,即使產品能廣泛生產,也無法保證屆時會被執業醫生們輕松接受。香港科技大學化學及生物工程系教授楊經倫表示,醫學界在應用新產品方面表現得極為保守。
“防護裝備方面,世界衛生組織對醫療專業人員該采用什么設備出具了指導意見,而且傾向于更加保守,因為世界衛生組織要確保所推薦設備適用于每個國家,”楊經倫說道。鉆石和鹽可能過不了關。(財富中文網)
譯者:Feb
新型冠狀病毒大流行導致醫用外科口罩的需求空前激增。口罩可以提供一定保護,防止病毒傳播,但在過濾空氣中的病原體時會受到污染,最后反而可能提高傳播疾病的風險。
研究人員正努力修復這一缺陷,希望能設計出功能更強大的口罩,使其可以殺死病毒和細菌,而非只是擋住它們。
“目前的口罩不能消滅病毒,所以建議一次性使用,但實際上不可能每隔幾個小時就更換一次口罩,”阿爾伯塔大學的化學與材料工程系助理教授崔孝鎮(音譯)說道,他一直在開發能為醫用外科口罩提供抗病毒涂層的產品以提高其安全性,秘訣就在于鹽。
“我們用鹽結晶處理口罩過濾層表面,不是公眾熟知的細鹽粉,”崔孝鎮表示。涂層的工作原理是,首先吸收空氣中通常攜帶病毒和其他病原體的水滴;水蒸發時,病毒會接觸到鹽結晶并被刺穿細胞膜從而達到殺滅效果。
崔孝鎮在2017年首次展示了這項技術,不過是在實驗室環境下,而且用的是單層口罩。標準外科口罩共有三層,內層用于過濾空氣,兩個夾層則用于防水和提升舒適性。
崔孝鎮表示,2017年剛開始跟制造商交談時,他們對提高口罩的安全性不感興趣,只想提高舒適性。崔孝鎮的最新研究兼顧兩者,可以讓口罩既透氣又能高效過濾,5分鐘內就能殺死病毒。
特別的鉆石
在香港,醫用外科口罩緊缺的形勢促使政府對當地生產進行補貼。香港科技園的Master Dynamic工程實驗室也在研究如何為醫用口罩提供抗病毒涂層,不過使用的是另一種材料:納米鉆石。
“我們可以在不同隔層上都應用納米鉆石,這樣一來就能全方位地殺死病毒,”Master Dynamics首席執行官湯姆·孔說道。根據孔教授的說法,納米鉆石可攜帶小電荷,與病毒接觸時電荷會使細胞膜變性從而達到滅殺效果。
Master Dynamics以前在實際應用中使用過納米鉆石,用途包括作為藥物輸送的結合劑等。巧合的是,崔孝鎮對鹽作為抗病毒制劑的興趣也是始于對改良藥物輸送系統的研究,當時他想用糖結晶作為結合劑研發可食用的疫苗。后來項目因糖結晶會破壞疫苗而失敗,但啟發了崔孝鎮用結晶體作為抗病毒涂層的想法。
崔孝鎮估計,用鹽做涂層后每個口罩的成本價將增加50美分。Master Dynamics的團隊尚未完成定價分析,但孔博士駁斥了鉆石價格高昂的觀點。
“人們一想到鉆石,通常會想到價格高昂的珠寶。但我們使用的是工業級納米鉆石,而不是珠寶級鉆石,因此要便宜得多,”孔博士說道。
工業級鉆石經常用于研磨和切割其他材料,大部分都在中國的實驗室里制造??撞┦勘硎荆涍^拋光變得鋒銳,并切割成適合形狀的鉆石,才能成為Master Dynamics用作原材料的鉆石“芯片”。
孔博士認為,口罩其實可以重復使用,因為納米鉆石的電荷能持續存在幾個月,具體還需要測試。根據香港房地產開發商新世界發展公司公布的新聞稿,在首席執行官鄭志剛指示下,該公司已經向Master Dynamics的研究投資了120萬美元,初步結果預計將在未來四個月內公布。阿爾伯塔大學的崔孝鎮相對領先一步,但也可能需要12到18個月時間才能推出可行的產品。
應用障礙
然而,即使產品能廣泛生產,也無法保證屆時會被執業醫生們輕松接受。香港科技大學化學及生物工程系教授楊經倫表示,醫學界在應用新產品方面表現得極為保守。
“防護裝備方面,世界衛生組織對醫療專業人員該采用什么設備出具了指導意見,而且傾向于更加保守,因為世界衛生組織要確保所推薦設備適用于每個國家,”楊經倫說道。鉆石和鹽可能過不了關。(財富中文網)
譯者:Feb
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted an unprecedented surge in demand for surgical masks, which offer some protection against the transmission of disease. However, masks become contaminated themselves as they filter pathogens from the air. As a result, they risk spreading more disease. That’s a design flaw researchers are currently trying to fix. They're working to design a better mask—one that can kill viruses and bacteria, rather than just trap them.
“Current masks don’t destroy the virus, that’s why they’ve been recommended for single use, but practically it is impossible to change the mask every few hours,” said Choi Hyo-jick, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta. Choi has been working on a product that can provide an anti-viral coating to surgical masks to make them safer. The secret ingredient is salt.
“We treated the surface of the mask filters with salt crystal, so it’s not the fine salt powder that the public thinks it is,” Choi said. The coating works by first absorbing the water droplets that normally carry viruses and other pathogens through the air. When the water evaporates, it brings the virus into contact with the salt crystals, which punctures the viral cell’s membrane and destroys the virus.
Hoi first demonstrated the technique in 2017 but only in a lab setting using a mask with one layer. A standard surgical mask has three layers, with the inner layer working as an air filter while the two sandwiching layers offer water resistance and comfort.
Choi says when he first spoke to manufacturers in 2017, they weren’t interested in making masks safer but wanted to make them more comfortable instead. Choi’s latest research offers to provide both, creating a mask that is breathable but efficient at filtering—killing viruses within five minutes.
A different crystal
Far across the Pacific in Hong Kong, where a run on surgical masks has prompted the government to subsidize local production, Master Dynamic—an engineering lab in the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park (HKSTP)—is investigating how to provide an anti-viral coating to surgical masks, too. But Master Dynamics using a different material: nano-diamonds.
“We can treat the nano-diamonds in different layers so that it can kill all spectrum of viruses,” said Master Dynamics CEO Tom Kong. According to Kong, nano-diamonds can be treated to carry a small electrical charge which, when in contact with a virus, denatures the cell membrane and kills the virus on contact.
Master Dynamics has used nano-diamonds in applications before, including as a binding agent for drug delivery. Coincidentally, Choi’s interest in salt as an anti-viral agent also began when he was researching an improved drug delivery system, using sugar crystals as a binding agent to create an edible vaccine. That project didn’t work because the sugar crystals destroyed the vaccine, but it inspired Choi to pursue the use of crystals as an anti-viral coating.
Choi estimates the salt application will add an additional cost price of 50 cents per mask. The team at Master Dynamics hasn’t finished pricing analysis yet, but Kong pushes back against the notion that diamonds are expensive.
“When people think about diamonds they are normally thinking about jewelry where the cost is at a premium. But we’re using industrial grade nano-diamonds, not jewelry -grade diamonds, so the cost is much cheaper,” Kong said.
Most of the world’s industrial grade diamonds, often used for grinding and cutting other materials, are created in Chinese labs. The diamonds need to be polished so they're sharp and cut so they're the right shape, Kong said, which creates diamond 'chips' that Master Dynamics can use as source material.
Kong believes the masks could also be reusable, as the charge on the nano-diamonds will last for months, but testing still needs to be done. According to a press release from Hong Kong-based real estate developer New World Development, which has invested $1.2 million in Master Dynamics’s research under the guidance of CEO Adrian Cheng, preliminary results are expected within the next four months. In Alberta, Choi’s project is further ahead, but even that could take 12 to 18 months before a viable product is on the market.
A hurdle to use
If and when a product is widely available, however, there’s no guarantee medical practitioners will embrace the new design. According to Yeung Kinglun, a professor in the department of chemical and biological engineering at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), the medical community is extremely conservative when it comes to adopting new products.
“In terms of protective gear there is guidance from the World Health Organization on what to medical professionals should adopt and often the WHO tends to be even more conservative because they have to make sure every country can access the recommended items,” Yeung says. Diamonds and salt might not make the grade.