ORLANDO, Fla. – UCF researchers are working to create a protective coating for masks protecting doctors and nursers that would catch COVID-19 and kill it within seconds.
Sudipta Seal, an engineer specializing in material science and nanotechnology, came up with the idea and is working with Griffith Parks, a virologist who leads research efforts at UCF’s College of Medicine.
The National Science Foundation funded Seal’s idea last week, approving the research proposal through a rapid review process that took about a month. “Why not come up with a protective film made of nanostructures that could catch and kill the virus?” Seal said. “I could come up with the nanoparticles, I was sure, but would the concept work with a virus?