The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged as a worldwide challenge to researchers and scientists. All research communities are working relentlessly in their labs hoping to find cure for the current COVID-19 pandemic. Developing a new vaccine for COVID-19 is not down on the road, it is a long process that needs numerous clinical trials. Moving the battle out of the body requires personal protective equipment (PPE), particularly masks and gloves. Together, they will limit spread of the virus, whether by reinforcing the PPE through developing an effective antiviral material or by finding the clinically proved vaccine to COVID-19.Virus infection is one of the major global health challenges. In the meantime, several antiviral agents have been under testing to assess their efficacy as potential therapies for COVID-19. The viral resistance and the side effects associated with antiviral agents are adding more challenges, which resulted in lagging of their effectiveness as antiviral treatment. This opens the door for the development of safe and potent alternative antiviral drugs. In the current study, silver nanoparticles loaded poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber-mat have emerged as a new antiviral platform in terms of its capability to deactivate a wide array of viruses. Silver nanoparticles have been studied exhaustively for their antimicrobial activity against wide-ranging of bacteria. Besides they have also shown promising activity versus several types of viruses including hepatitis B, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), herpes simplex, monkey pox, and respiratory syncytial virus. Silver nanoparticles provide an alternative route as a new antiviral material. Interestingly, silver metals have the power to attack multiple targets in the virus, which results in diminishing its possibility to develop resistance as compared to imitative antivirals.Considering the ongoing challenge, our lab has been preparing silver nanoparticles loaded on filter papers, cellulose membrane, polymer dressings, and cotton fabrics. These new generation of fiber mats will be fully characterized and tested against several viruses. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) will be used to determine the morphology of our fibers and measure the particle size of the embedded nanoparticles.
PVA/Silver Nanoparticles Electrospun Fiber As a New Platform of Antiviral Personal Protective Equipment for COVID-19
